


Life of the Student

by BakaSmurf



Category: Monster Girl Quest, Rosario + Vampire, ゼロの使い魔 | Zero no Tsukaima | The Familiar of Zero
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-07-14 17:05:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 41,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16044824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BakaSmurf/pseuds/BakaSmurf
Summary: While travelling to the city of Bruxelles from the Tristain Academy of Magic shortly after defeating the master thief Fouquet, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere and her guardian familiar Jophiel find themselves caught in a strange storm which casts them across dimensions into another academy, this one intended to acclimatize monsters to modern human civilization.Meanwhile, while travelling to the city of Grand Noah with his trusted heroic companion Luka, William finds himself stumbling into yet another strange portal which separates him from his companions, trapping him in another world of monsters, though this one a fair bit different from the world under the watchful eye of Illias.Surely, their tenure as students at Yokai Academy will be a fruitful one?





	1. Ain't that a Kick in the Head?

**Author's Note:**

> Co-authored by Fission Battery, author of I Need a Meatshield- I Mean Hero!; and BakaSmurf, author of Northern Star.

“Are freak storms like this common in Tristain, Louise?” Jophiel asked with rising panic in his voice as a massive storm front was rapidly barrelling their way down the highway to Bruxelles.  
  
“N-no!” The tiny fledgeling noble mage replied as her dire hound Sleipnir started to pad back away from the freak phenomenon, Master and Familiar still mounted atop his furry back. “Certainly not as terrifying green-glowing monstrosities!”  
  
The harsh winds coming off the storm were causing her luxuriously long strawberry blonde hair to billow uncontrollably, squinting out through the buffeting air at the subject of their conversation.  
  
Indeed, the bright, almost neon green glow the lightning clouds was giving off was most unsettling. In fact, the glow almost reminded the Canadian of the portal which had brought him to this world in the first place-  
  
His features fell, irises becoming pinpricks. “Louise,” he started, doing his best to not crush her little shoulder in his grasp. “Turn Sleipnir around. We have to run.  _Now._ ”  
  
She spun in her saddle, looking up at him past furrowed blonde brows with large violet eyes. “What? It  _looks_  weird. It won’t be pleasant to ride through heavy rain, but it will hardly be dangerous-”  
  
Then she noticed the clear and obvious panic on his face.  
  
“Jophiel? What-”  
  
“It’s the same colour as the portal that brought me to the academy in the first place!” He explosively explained as it rapidly approached the trio, giant dog included. “That thing might be some kind of freak natural moving portal! Louise, fucking move!”  
  
Her eyes grew large, and her already pale skin somehow managed to lose what little colour it had at his words, and she was quickly issuing commands to the hound they were both mounted atop. “Sleipnir! Back! Run!” She shouted.  
  
But the beast didn’t respond. In fact, he seemed to be frozen to the spot.  
  
“Sleipnir! Sleppy! Go! MOVE!” She screamed as the rain and thunderous clouds, and sickly glowing green fog grew ever closer. “HURRY YOU DUMB DOG!”  
  
Unfortunately, the oft-forgotten ‘freeze’ aspect of the ‘flight or fight’ instinct had won out in the Kodiak-sized dog’s mind, and Louise wasn’t about to abandon her dog.  
  
“J-Jophiel-!” She started as the first raindrops landed on the sleeves of her blouse, and in response, her otherworldly familiar could only wrap his arms around her and hope they’d be safe as the fog enveloped them followed by a torrential downpour which prevented them from seeing more than a few feet in any direction.  
  
A terrible thundercrack resounded throughout the surrounding woodland, and as a neon green bolt of lightning struck the ground before the duo, they were left flash-blinded amidst the confusion.  
  
\---  
  
Will was breathing hard, hands tightly gripping his kanabo, back to back with his short purple haired friend and wannabe, Luka. He was staring hard at the circling herd of half a dozen centaurs, all anxiously eyeing up the two men while trotting around them in agitation. Their blushing faces and hungry gazes betraying their desire.  
  
They had the misfortune to get ambushed by a wandering group of centaurs in heat, only a day from Grand Noah. The herd had appeared seemingly out of thin air, likely a roaming group patrolling the farm communities in search of mates.  
  
He spared a glanced at Sara. The blonde princess turned swordswoman had been split off by a few centaurs running interference and had her back against a tree, but she was otherwise holding her own. It was one of the few times when her longsword didn’t hinder her fighting ability, it’s length keeping the centaurs at bay.  
  
One broke from the ranks, charging towards the Canadian, and without missing a beat Will swung his studded club. It connected with her equestrian shoulder, producing an audible meaty crunch. She cried out in pain as the force of the blow drove her back and sent her flying onto her back.  
  
The others were given pause, evidently hesitant to engage. Their friend laying on the ground and whimpering in pain.  
  
“Alright, I’ll make this real fucking simple.” Will began, glaring at the centaurs. “You go home and suck on a salt lick, and we all walk away. Or I begin breaking legs.”  
  
“That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?” Luka whispered to his friend, clearly uncomfortable with the threat of violence. “I can just seal them.”  
  
“Somehow Luka, I don’t think they’re going to be kind and take turns attacking us.” Will dryly remarked.  
  
He was right as the centaurs looked to each other and seemed to come to some nonverbal agreement before several reared up. Without hesitation the Canadian rushed forward, breaking with Luka as he swept his club against the legs of the nearest centaur. It hit, her hooves cracking against each other, as she fell to the ground with a thump.  
  
She was caught off guard and scrambled to stand back up, but he followed up with his fist slamming into her face. He felt her nose break beneath his armoured glove and her human torso fell to the ground limply.  
  
He heard the sound of hooves and Luka yelling, and turned to see his friend dodge to the side and open up a nasty gash on one of the centaur’s body. It oozed magical powerful, rainbow-hued mercury flowed from the wound only to quickly dissipate into sparkling dust. She stumbled by him and he responded by thrusting as she passed, hitting her in the leg.  
  
The centaur fell to the ground and looked down at herself in confusion for a moment, before seemingly breaking apart and being replaced by an otherwise uninjured but confused horse.  
  
Will didn’t have time to admire the work of Angel Halo, noticing another centaur attempting to charge him. He couldn’t help but grin, and push off the ground as he rushed forward to meet her charge head-on. Within seconds the two collided and he was pushed back as the horse sized body slammed into him. He dropped his kanabo before pressing against her.  
  
She openly gapped at the sight of a man stopping her dead in her tracks and then let out a cry of surprise as he moved to grapple her, arms wrapping around her barrel. His arms briefly strained under the weight as he lifted the centaur off the ground and flung her towards another one.  
  
The horsewoman screamed in shock and then pain as she collided with her friend. The two collapsing into a pile of bruised and groaning centaurs.  
  
He picked his club back up and quickly surveyed the situation. Luka was dealing with a straggler that hadn’t gotten the message yet, and Sara was still stuck. So, the Canadian lept into action, leaping towards the three still harassing the princess.  
  
As he pulled back to swing, the centaur took notice of him and reared onto her front legs. Before he had a chance to dodge, he was kicked full force in the chest and sent flying backwards. In a second the calm sunny dirt path surrounded by fields and orchards was replaced by a gloomy sky and stonework buildings. Sara and Luka looking back at him in surprise through a glowing tear floating in mid-air as he rapidly flew away from them.  
  
\---  
  
For a moment, Jophiel thought that the way too close lightning strike’s accompanying thunderclap must have left him deaf, with how everything became utterly quiet immediately following it.  
  
Then, he heard as clear as day the sound of a far more adorable than was probably intended growl emanating from the fun-sized blonde sitting before him.  
  
The rain had stopped, the wind had died down to little more than a gentle breeze, the terrible cacophony of a tempest downpour being replaced by the soothing report of waves atop a large body of water.  
  
“W-what in the Founder’s name was that!?” She demanded of nobody, in particular, rubbing at her eyes in discomfort.  
  
His eyes recovered more quickly than hers did, and gazing outward while they adjusted to the change in lighting, Jophiel was left with his mouth agape.  
  
They were perched atop what seemed to be a tall stony cliff, overlooking a blood-red sea. The completely overcast sky was just the cherry on top of the cake, really…  
  
Quickly whipping his face around, it didn’t take long for Jophiel to notice the terrible, spooky, dead forest off to the right of them, and to the left-  
  
...A spooky-ass gothic castle.  
  
“...Oh fuck my goddamned life,  _not again_ ,” he groaned as he let his face fall- unexpectedly directly onto the top of the strawberry blonde’s head with a dull boink.  
  
“Ow!” Louise cried out. “What the hel, Jophiel!” She shouted, spinning around, rubbing at her crown which he’d accidentally headbutted and looking his way through bloodshot eyes which still hadn’t seemed to have completely recovered from the flash blinding.  
  
_...Oh no,_  he thought.  _Oh fucking no!_  Louise was still there. They were still sitting atop Sleipnir…  _Louise had been fucking isekai’d with him this time!_  
  
“...Louise,” he began nervously. “Okay, I need you to listen to me and stay calm…”  
  
“What? Stay calm?” She replied, still rubbing her eyes. “What are you going on about, what happened, how did that storm stop so suddenly-”  
  
She caught herself, pausing with a visible jerk.  
  
“...Why can I hear the sounds of the ocean, Jophiel?”  
  
\---  
  
Will’s eyes hidden in terror as he recognized what happened. His panicked train of thought as cut off as he slammed through the wall of a wooden shack. He cratered a shelf, founding himself covered in various,  _modern_  sporting equipment. Scrambling to get up, he stumbled, feet slipping as he frantically waded through the pile of debris he’d inadvertently created.  
  
“No, no, no! Not again! Not again!” He shouted in naked fear and panic. He slammed his kanabo against the wall as he dove through the widened hole and pushed off the ground into a dead sprint.  
  
The tear in space and time hung in the air, and slowly it’s edges began to collapse inwards. He pumped his legs as hard as he could, kicking up clumps of dirt and grass. He jumped forward, hoping to close the distance, but watched in horror as it rapidly closed before he entered through it.  
  
The Canadian didn’t brace himself and tumbled across the field, end over end. He hesitantly pushed himself off the ground and stared at the spot where the tear previously existed.  
  
“No,” he began shaking his head, “no, no, no.” He was shaking, tears beginning to run down his face. “No. No! No!  **NO!** ” He slammed the club into the ground with every shout, leaving a small crater. “Why?! Why now?!” He cried out.  
  
He fell to his knees, clutching his head and staring in shock. After a few seconds, he began sobbing, tears and snot running down his face as he openly wept. “Alice… I-I-I’m sorry, I n-n-never got to say goodbye.”  
  
He idly heard the sound of shoes on grass as someone approached. He knew the person was an adult male from sound and smell alone but didn’t acknowledge the newcomer.  
  
“Hey kid,” the man spoke in a concerned tone, “are you okay. Is everything alright?”  
  
Will slowly pried his eyes from the dirt and looked over his shoulder. He was mildly surprised to see a thirty-something Japanese man with short spiky red hair in a white and blue tracksuit looking down at him.  
  
A man who was a monster.  
  
The Japanese man knelt down to get on eye level with the grieving Canadian, and tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me? Should I call a medic?” He continued asking out of concern.  
  
Will blankly stared back at the man for several seconds before responding. “Who are you? Where am I?” In his peripheral vision, he noticed a much larger modern building off to the side.  
  
“Okay, it sounds like you’re in shock. I’m Okuto Kotsubo,” the Japanese redhead indicated towards himself, “the gym teacher here at Yokai Academy. I’ll take you to first aid and-”  
  
“That isn’t necessary Mr Kotsubo.” A white-robed man stated, placing a hand on the teacher’s shoulder. “I shall handle this situation from here. You have a class to attend.”  
  
“Oh, right, of course, sir.” The gym teacher nodded, before turning his attention back to Will. “Alright, you’re in good hands. Everything’s going to be okay, alright?”  
  
“Right, totally.” The Canadian responded in a dead monotone.  
  
The teacher patted his shoulder before standing up and walking away towards the school facility.  
  
“You have evidently suffered so much, so recently.” The white robbed man remarked and Will looked up to see two eyes glowing beneath a white hood and a strained thin line. Up close Will could sense the power hidden beneath the man’s unassuming appearance, reminding him of Alice when she hid her presence.  
  
“However we must speak privately in my office.” He continued. “I feel that there is much you have to share.”  
  
Will slowly pushed himself to his feet using his kanabo as support, and nodded towards the man, who wordlessly motioned to follow. So he did, dragging his blood and dirt covered club behind him.  
  
\---  
  
Jophiel gazed out the modern window of the room he’d been assigned, staring at the gothic monster academy on the other side of the spooky, almost completely empty courtyard.  
  
... _Monster Academy_ , the twice-now displaced Canuck ruminated with a sigh. That conversation with the Headmaster had been… interesting, to say the least.  
  
A pocket dimension housing an academy meant to facilitate the integration of monsters into modern 2017 human society, with humans being none the wiser to the process. And for some reason, the Headmaster had been quick to offer Jophiel and Louise the opportunity to enrol.  
  
Louise was still… stone-faced and kind of unresponsive when he’d suggested it with that wide smirk directed the Canadian’s way, so Jophiel wound up making the decision for both of them.  
  
School would be starting in a week, Jophiel, being 18, as a third year, Louise as a first owing to being 16 herself. The student dorm building it seemed was unisex and arranged with no particular logic to it aside from the Headmaster making a point to give himself and his ward rooms right next to each other.  
  
He pushed himself away from the main window and turned to face his new, rather contemporary living quarters.  
  
An actual, modern little room, built like a hotel room. The front door opened to a kitchenette, which led to the bathroom door, and the living room area, which was also the bedroom.  
  
Small, but it had air conditioning and running water. Immediately, it was several steps above from his older accommodations in the Tristain Academy of Magic.  
  
...From a magic academy to a fucking monster academy. Jophiel wasn’t sure what to make of his life at this point.  
  
...Nor how Louise was really taking all of this. She’d just retreated to her room, and quietly, calmly, locked the door behind her without a single word. She’d actually not said a damned thing since they’d set foot on the academy grounds.  
  
Sleipnir was left in front of the dorms, with assurances that he’d have a plus-size dog house installed for him before the day was out. Apparently, nobody in this place gave a Saint Bernard the size of a fucking Grizzly a second thought.  
  
Which really said a lot about the locals, in his opinion.  
  
Sighing, he shuffled over to the twin-sized bed he’d been provided, flopping down on it gracelessly.  
  
As per usual. Jophiel would just roll with whatever life threw his way. He was used to being blindsided and sucker-punched, owing to how easily he’d shrugged off that entire thing with Fouquet the master thief and the Siege Golem that happened right before they set off from the academy.  
  
Louise, though… he wasn’t sure how she was taking this all.  
  
Either way… hopefully, he’d be able to help the girl get used to dealing with modern amenities before classes started properly, and that their time at their new school wouldn’t wind up being anywhere near as stressful and…  _explosive_  as the Tristain Academy had been.  
  
\---  
  
“... Ilias has to be stopped. If she isn’t the entire world will be wiped clean of life; human, monsters, and eventually her own angels for the simple crime of knowing about everything she wishes to erase.” Will concluded, tired and drained from his weeping. “Please, if you can do anything to send me back, I implore you to consider lending aid.”  
  
The Headmaster was listening intently, any trace of the smirk he’d been previously wearing long since gone. “...I will,” he began, his voice utterly and completely serious. “I know of a few potential sources of information which I may make contact with, ones which will take your allegations entirely seriously, especially with what I myself sensed coming from that… portal, you fell through.”  
  
He lifted his hands from his handsome desk and steepled them over his mouth.  
  
“I appreciate your forthcomingness, young man. It will make many decisions I will be making in the coming days far easier to settle upon.”  
  
Will bowed his head. “Any help you can render is greatly appreciated. It… puts me at ease to know there’s always the possibility.”  
  
The headmaster smirked in response. “Such as the decision to suggest that you enrol in my fine academy for the time being.”  
  
There was a beat.  
  
“Excuse me, enrol your academy?” Will parroted back in confusion.  
  
The spooky, sinister Headmaster smirked at the twice-displaced Canuck again. “Indeed. You are of age to attend as a third year, being eighteen, and it will make it much easier to keep an eye on you. Plus, you won’t be the only last-minute addition to the school’s roster this week either. Not being human will make it easier to attend as well. So, what do you say, Will?”  
  
The Canadian considered the offer. It was an odd suggestion, however, it would mean he’d have housing and wouldn’t be fending for himself. “Well,” he finally spoke, “I don’t see a reason why not. When do classes start?”  
  
“Two days from now,” the hooded figure replied as he rose to his feet. “I will show you to the dorms myself, so that you will know where you are staying from now on, at least. Familiarizing yourself with the rest of the faculties… that will be entirely up to you, however.”  
  
Will followed suit and stood from his chair and nodded in agreement. “Thank you once again. It’s very much appreciated. After today I… I definitely just want to lie down in bed.” He sighed. “It’s been a while since I was last in school. I wonder how well I’ll do here.”  
  
With a small chuckle, the Headmaster reached up and patted Will on the shoulder in what managed to feel like an oddly mocking gesture. “Oh, don’t concern yourself with that. You’ll fit in just fine, I guarantee it.”  
  
\---  
  
The dorms reminded Will of several large apartment complexes, all stacked side by side. It was utilitarian looking from the outside, at least compared to the Headmaster’s own residence.  
  
He could smell it before he saw it, and looked to see a fenced off area at the base of the dorms with a giant bear-sized dog in it. The Saint Bernard was lying in an oversized doghouse and happily chewing on a large bone.  
  
The Canadian was taken aback by the sheer size of the dog and looked to the Headmaster. “Do you know if that dog is friendly?”  
  
“He’s not attacked anyone since he arrived with his owner five days ago if that’s what you’re asking,” the Headmaster offered.  
  
Will hummed in response and stared at the giant dog, privately weighing up his chances to survive petting it. He could throw around centaurs, so he figured worse case scenario he’d be able to wrestle it to the ground.  
  
“If you could excuse me then.” He remarked to the Headmaster as he walked towards the large pen. The dog paused and looked up, noticing the Canadian’s approach, ears popping up. Once Will reached the edge of the waist-high fence he held his hand out, seeing how the dog reacted.  
  
The Saint Bernard shot up and wandered over to him, its massive tail wagging. The dog pressed its nose close and started loudly sniffing Will’s hand for several seconds before it started to lick him.  
  
Will took that as a good sign and reached over to start scratching the giant floofer behind the ear. The dog leaned in, loving the attention as Will scratched its head for several seconds.  
  
“Alright, you big doggo, that’s enough for now. I’ve got to get settled in myself.” He muttered under his breath, extremely happy that he was petting a bear-sized animal and not getting mauled to death. “I’ll be back tomorrow though.”  
  
The dog whined as Will stopped giving it attention and walked back over to the Headmaster.  
  
“Well, I suppose I can confirm it’s friendly.” He remarked.  
  
“Indeed. Now, if you’re quite done, I have things I need to attend to once you know where your room is,” he stated as he started up the steps to the rooms.  
  
\---  
  
Will was lying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. It was comfortable and modern, the glowing of the digital clock faintly illuminating the room. Not that he needed the light to see well in the dark anyway.  
  
It was odd for him, being back in modernity. If it wasn’t for the club and pile of armour in the corner, he could have pretended he was back home or on vacation. It was as if he never left at all…  
  
And he felt devastated because of that.  
  
“All the time I spent there… Everyone I met and everything I’d done, just gone. They’re nothing but memories only I will carry forth. Sara, Yao, Sylvia, L-Luka...”  
  
He screwed his eyes shut and rolled over, clutching a pillow close to his chest.  
  
“Alice…”


	2. Terrifying Presence

Will woke up, eventually managing to fall to sleep. He stared up at the ceiling for several minutes before sighing and rolling out of bed. “Yeah… it wasn’t just a bad dream.” He remarked as he began his morning routine. He’d already been at the academy for two days, but still hoped he’d wake back up to see Alice beside him.  
  
It was shocking how quickly it came back to him like he hadn’t left home at all and only transferred out of college to attend some Japanese academy.  
  
The murmur of hundreds of students waking up however reminded him that he had changed. He ignored the cacophony of voices droning on as he finished showering and got dressed in the school uniform provided for him. He was surprised they managed to find something in his size.  
  
“Well, this is a fucking ugly ass colour.” He remarked as he viewed himself in the mirror. The jacket was a light green that bordered on teal that clashed horribly with the beige khaki pants. There was a red tie that he was supposed to wear, but how left it on his bed since he didn’t know how to actually tie one.  
  
“At least everyone else looks awful in it. That’s some comfort I suppose.” He sighed as he collected his backpack since emptied of all travelling supplies, and slipped it on as he walked out the door.  
  
The Canadian was met by a wave of smells, and he didn’t notice a single human amongst the other students filling out of the dorms. He shuffling along with them, ignoring the odd looks he got as he towered over everyone and made his way towards the school building.  
  
He was slightly surprised by just how many students were already on campus before classes even started. He checked his schedule as he resigned himself to suffering academic boredom listening to high school level curricula.  
  
“I could have applied for honours and look at me now. Back at high school.” He grumbled to himself, head hanging look as he navigated the school.  
  
\---  
  
The homeroom session passed quickly, providing a brief introduction to the school and its purpose. It was slightly redundant though given it was a third-year class and Will was the only newcomer. There were several students that openly gaped at him as he stood at the front of the room and introduced himself.  
  
He had quickly noticed he was one of, if not the, tallest student in the school. That suited him fine, as he did nothing to hide or suppress his presence. He didn’t want some little shits thinking they could get street cred by picking a fight with the tall ‘foreign exchange’ student.  
  
Once the introduction was over he found himself meandering throughout the hall. The rest of the day was a free day for students to familiarize themselves with the layout of the academy. Will figured with nothing better to do that he’d at least check out the library and get a pile of books to hole up with back in his room.  
  
He slowed as he heard a commotion in the hallway and turned his attention towards it. There was a group of assorted students standing off to the side and muttering amongst themselves as they pointed towards a delinquent looking thug holding another student up by the scruff of his shirt.  
  
“That’s Saizou Komiya!” One remarked. “I heard he got forced to attend Yokai after causing too many problems in the human world!”  
  
“He sounds like quite the ladies man, considering all the women he’s molested.” Another responded.  
  
Will grimaced at their comments but he found his attention drawn to the wimpy looking kid. He smelled like a human.  
  
A human standing in the middle of a monster-filled academy with kill on sight orders.  
  
 _What the actual fuck?!_  He mentally exclaimed.  _That kid’s going to get eaten alive!... Also that Saizou guy sounds like a total piece of shit!_  
  
Saizou dropped the guy before leaning down and leering at a brunette girl with waist length hair. She was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, cowering away and trying to withdraw into her oversized jacket.  
  
“Why is a pretty girl like you hanging out with a scrawny little shit like this? You deserve a man that can actually pleasure a woman.” He smugly remarked as licked his lips and left the tip of his tongue hanging out of his mouth. “So how about we go have some fun together?”  
  
Will’s grimace deepened as he watched the display. He’d spent the last month fighting monsters alongside Luka and Sara, and he’d found his patience for their bullshit  _severely_ diminished. He knew what Saizou was doing, what he would eventually try to do, and wasn’t about to fucking stand for it.  
  
“Hey, buddy, why don’t you back off.” Will sternly remarked as he stepped forward and glared down at Saizou. The punk might have been tall for a Japanese student, but he only just came up to Will’s chin.  
  
The punk turned and glared at the gaijin interrupting him. “Why don’t you mind your own fucking business?” He swore but was hesitant as he eyed up the taller man and assessed the situation.  
  
“Because when I see guys like you trying to claim women as their property I make it my business to intervene.” Will began growling as he loudly cracked his knuckles and squared his shoulders. He could tell Saizou didn’t have much of an aura, seeming weaker than Sara, and figured he could deal with the bastard easily. “So I told you nicely, but if I have to tell you again I’ll feed you your own fucking teeth.”  
  
He had hoped that there was a possibility that the school wouldn’t suffer the same problems he’d long come to associate with monsters. The kill humans on sight order and the fact that there weren’t any teachers or hall monitors to keep people like Saizou in line. It annoyed him.  
  
Besides, he had some stress and frustrations he wanted to work out, and he suspected that beating the shit out of a rapist might be cathartic.  
  
A wave of murmurs went through the crowd of assembled students, and all of them were waiting to see what happened next.  
  
Saizou’s glare deepened as his hands curled into fists. His nose twitched, subtly and instinctively sniffing the air. The silence continued on for several tense seconds until the punk relaxed and put on a cocky grin. “I’m just saying she deserves better than this ‘Tsukune’ fuck.” He snidely remarked as he gestured to the aforementioned Tsukune, then shrugged. “That’s all I’m doing. Maybe you should learn to read the mood.”  
  
The scrawny  _human_ scrambled to his feet and backed away to stand beside the brunette girl. “Come on Moka, let’s get out of here. They’re distracted.” He fearfully muttered, looking between the taller men with apprehension.  
  
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Moka replied as she grabbed his wrist and turned on her heel as they started running away from Saizou and Will.  
  
The delinquent tried to casually play off the glare, brushing his wild hair back and watching the pair run off. It was obvious his gaze was drawn to the girl’s skirt.  
  
“Learn to keep your hands to yourself buddy and we won’t ever have a problem,” Will remarked observing the two, ready to begin tracking them down and confronting that Tsukune guy. He wasn’t about to let some random dude get caught up in a monster-filled school when he was just a human.  
  
Saizou shot the taller man a glare and scoffed before he began walking off.  
  
Will sighed in frustration, knowing he’d have to deal with the bastard eventually but not right then. He couldn’t in good consciousness let a poor defenceless human attend the academy. If the administration didn’t handle him, then the other students likely would over petty bullshit like what just happened.  
  
He breathed deeply and shook his head as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and began strolling down the hall. He knew the direction Tsukune had gone. The scent of human hung in the air, leaving an almost visible trail to his refined senses.  
  
He still couldn’t believe no one else noticed the lamb strolling through the middle of the wolf’s den.  
  
\---  
  
It didn’t take him long to track Tsukune and Moka down. He heard them as he approached their hiding spot under a staircase on the far side of the school. It seemed like an isolated spot that didn’t get much foot traffic.  
  
 _I could put a damn bloodhound out of work._  He sarcastically thought to himself as he turned a corner.  
  
“You have A grade blood, Tsukune! It’s way better than any of the blood I’ve had from transfusion packs!” The girl enthusiastically explained. “It’s full-bodied, and the sweetness and mineral balance is perfect!”  
  
“What am I food?!” The guy exclaimed in exasperation.  
  
The exchanged caused Will to think back to Alice and ruefully chuckled, catching their attention. “Trust me, there are worse things to be graded on than blood and worse times to hear that too.”  
  
Tsukune stared up at the taller man with trepidation, obviously surprised by his sudden appearance and realizing he had been backed into a corner. He nervously laughed as he looked between the Canadian, stairway, and walls around him.  
  
Moka, however, regarded him anxiously but spoke up. “Uh, thank you for intervening earlier, um…”  
  
The girl was definitely a monster, he could sense a faint aura around her. The rosary attached to a choker gave him pause. He couldn’t make sense of it, and could only tell that it was likely magical somehow. The thing that stood out most about her though was her Caucasian features, looking like she was some European exchange student.  
  
“William Booker, call me Will,” he motioned to himself, putting on a polite smile, “third-year student. I’m sorry for the vulgar language and if I was a bit scary back there. I’ve dealt with people like Saizou before and they tend to only respond to threats.”  
  
He could understand why they’d be scared by him, in spite of his bookish appearance. He easily towered over them, Tsukune just barely coming up to his neck and Moka not even reaching his shoulders.  
  
Her expression faltered. “Yeah, he seems real… mean.” She hesitated for a second before smiling and bowing. “Thank you again, Booker. I’m Moka Akashiya,” she placed a hand on her chest, fidgeting with a rosary around her neck, “and this is-”  
  
“Tsukune Aono.” He finished, anxiously rubbing the back of his head.  
  
The guy seemed quite average, not unattractive but nothing really special appearance wise. He looked like someone that could easily blend into a crowd. Just another brown haired, brown eyed Japanese teen walking the halls if it wasn’t for the scent of human that clung to him.  
  
“It’s nice to meet you both.” Will bowed in return, continuing with the social pleasantries. “I hope Yokai Academy is treating you two well. It can certainly be a bit of a treacherous place for those unprepared for it.” His gaze lingered on Tsukune when he spoke.  
  
The teen laughed nervously, making it sound forced. “It’s not that bad. Uh, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of experience with it.”  
  
“Actually I only transferred here this year, so I’m technically a new student as well. Oh, how’s my Japanese sounding?” He asked with mild curiosity. “I hope I’m not making a complete fool of myself.”  
  
“No, no, you’re doing just fine!” Moka declared with a thumbs up.  
  
“Your accent sounds a bit odd. It sounds rural.” Tsukune flippantly remarked, only to tense up a moment later once he realized how rude he sounded. “But uh, otherwise it’s good.” He sheepishly added.  
  
“Ah, that’s good to know.” The Canadian replied in relief. He had been originally hesitant to accept Yao’s offer to teach him the language of Yamatai Village, but telepathic conversations during lucid dreams made the entire process quite intuitive. He was fortunate it was mutually intelligible with modern Japanese.  
  
“So Tsukune,” he continued speaking, “what drew you to Yokai Academy? Any reason you came here instead of any other high school?” It was a seemingly innocent question, but the teen stiffened and his eyes frantically glancing between Will and an exit door behind him.  
  
“Oh it’s actually kind of funny, it-it’s the only school that didn’t have any entrance exams. Plus I’m a monster like anyone else!” He hastily added. “There’s no other school I rather attend!”  
  
 _He flunked in! He somehow flunked into a school for fucking monsters!_  Will almost couldn’t believe the bad luck.  _I have to get this poor bastard out of here!_  
  
“Are you sure you want to stick it out here? Are you  _really_ sure?” Will pressed, looking at the teen expectantly. He didn’t want to outright say it, but he was getting to the point where he would. “This school might be a little bit dangerous for you.”  
  
Tsukune nervously chuckled. “I think I’ll be fine,” he shot a glanced to Moka who was earnestly smiling at him, and he relaxed somewhat, “thanks for the concern though Booker.”  
  
“Why would he want to go anywhere else, Booker? He’d have to go to a  _human school_  if he left.” Moka practically spat. “I went to one through middle school and it was  _awful_. Humans are so mean and spiteful. They always made fun of me.”  
  
 _Oh god, she doesn't know? How can she not know? She drank his blood and it’s so obvious_. Will thought to himself.  _Is everyone in this damn school nose blind?_  
  
Tsukune turned to face Moka in shock. “Wh-what do you mean? I went to a human school before this and it wasn’t so-”  
  
“It was awful Tsukune!” She harshly cut him off, her otherwise meek voice filled resentment. “I felt so isolated and alone. None of the kids believed in monsters, so they made fun of me for being a vampire. It was awful…”  
  
She paused before her expression softened and she smiled at Tsukune. “That’s why I’m so happy you said you didn’t care that I was a vampire. It’s the first time anyone else has accepted me.” The vampire hugged him, the teen utterly stunned and processing what she said. “I want to be your friend, and hang out, and study hard, and… and…” She trailed off as she pressed her face closer to him.  
  
Will heard the sound of fangs pierce flesh and wondered if he should intervene or not. He saw that Tsukune looked more shocked by Moka’s declaration that she hated humans than the fact she had sunk her teeth into his neck.  
  
He elected to politely cough as a reminder he was still standing there.  
  
Moka immediately shot back from him, thankfully not tearing his neck open, and sheepishly laughed as she pressed her fingers together. “Sorry, Tuskune’s scent just kind of gets me worked up.”  
  
“That’s something you should probably be asking permission for before you do it,” Will remarked with a slight frown. “And I’m sorry to hear you had such a rough time before, but it’s wrong to hate humans because of the actions of some children. The fact of the matter is kids are cruel, Moka, human, the monster it doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “They’re all little sociopaths that bounce on the difference as an excuse to mock someone, regardless of the reason.”  
  
“But more than them, I’d blame your parents. They sent you to a human school but didn’t tell you to not share the fact you’re a vampire? Of course, the other kids wouldn’t believe you. They aren’t supposed to know monsters exist.” He exclaimed, throwing his arms up.  
  
He generally disliked the idea of a masquerade, but he could understand its utility given the circumstances. It was just a shame that the poor girl got bullied over it.  
  
“That doesn’t change the fact they made fun of me!” Moka shot back, clearly upset by the topic.  
  
Tsukune seemed conflicted by the exchange, his hand rubbing his neck as blood trickled down from two pinpricks. Moka’s exclamation of hating humans clearly shocked him, yet he still appeared sympathetic.  
  
The Canadian sighed. He didn’t want to out the kid as human, not after that little rollercoaster Moka went on and the two were clearly into each other. So, he decided he’d let them have their little ‘date’ and wait till they split off to head to dorms before getting Tsukune alone.  
  
 _I’ll be there the entire time anyway. There probably won’t be any trouble… hopefully_.  
  
Will bowed his head. “I apologize for upsetting you. It’s clearly a sensitive issue, so please forgive me for bringing it up.”  
  
The vampire stared at him in silence for a few moments before breathing deeply and relaxing. “It’s… all in the past. I have Tsukune as a friend now.” She shyly smiled at the teen, who hesitantly found himself returning it.  
  
“That’s what I’ve found you have to do sometimes in life. Just keep moving forward.” He offered a small smile. “You know, I have been on campus for a couple days and could show you two around. I could also keep Saizou or any other punks away too, assuming I wouldn’t be intruding of course.”  
  
Tsukune was unsure of the offer, blushing as Moka clung to his arm and clearly disliking the idea of a third wheel tagging along. However, at the offer of protection, he seemed more receptive to the idea. “Eh, I-I don’t mind.”  
  
“I don’t either.” Moka chimed in.  
  
“Excellent! Then if you would follow me, I shall give you the grand tour of Yokai Academy!” Will declared, motioning for them to follow him.  
  
He looked back and saw that Moka was practically radiating joy, and Tsukune was becoming less nervous and returning the expression.  
  
 _God, I’m going to feel bad breaking them up._


	3. With a Single Stroke

The ‘tour’ had been uneventful as Will showed Moka and Tsukune around the campus without any incident. He didn’t see or smell any sign of Saizou, and nobody was eager to bother the giant gajin.  
  
“And that’s the giant Saint Bernard beside the dorms. I don’t know whose dog he is, but he’s really friendly and adorable.” The Canadian motioned to the giant floofer who immediately noticed him and began wagging his tail. “Observe.”  
  
He approached the waist-high fence and reached over to begun petting the needy dog. His fluffy oversized head leaned into Will’s hands, practically putting all his weight onto the man.  
  
“See, he’s friendly,” Will remarked. He’d definitely spent a fair bit of time playing with the dog while waiting for classes to start but had yet to actually see or meet the owner of the animal.  
  
“Uh, I’ll take your word on it, Booker-senpai,” Tsukune remarked as he cautiously eyed up the giant canine. His gaze wandered from the dog to the tombstones scattered around the ground and murders of crows slowly circled high above the dorms. “This place seems pretty creepy.”  
  
“I think it’s filled with dignity and character,” Moka remarked as she gazed up at the dime a dozen concrete apartment building style dorms with wonder. “I don’t know how a monster could find this place scary. Oh speaking of,” she brought her gaze down to Tsukune and Will. “What type are monsters are you guys?”  
  
The teen immediately began panicking, rubbing the back of his head and muttering gibberish as he thought of an excuse.  
  
“Isn’t it against school policy to reveal your true form to other students?” Will rhetorically asked as he intervened on Tsukune’s behalf. “Neither of us should really answer that.”  
  
“Oh that’s right. Sorry, I got curious and forgot about that rule.” She apologized and self-consciously chuckled to herself.  
  
“It’s fine,” Tsukune let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, “I’m also curious. Are you really a vampire? You look like an ordinary human to me.”  
  
“And you don’t really seem that powerful.” Will casually remarked as he idly rubbed the dog’s chin. The dhampirs he met at Sabasa felt stronger than she did.  
  
“That’s because of my rosary.” She placed both hands on her chest. “It seals off my powers, so only when I take it off do I become a scary vampire.”  
  
“Huh, that’s pretty interesting.” Will remarked, stepping away from the dog and inspecting it intently. “And you can take it off whenever you want, right?”  
  
“Uh, not exactly.” She replied, moving closer to Tsukune. “It was fun hanging out with you today, but I need to go unpack and get settled in.” She leaned in and snuck another bite of his neck.  
  
The teen let out a cry of pain, and was left once more dabbing the trickle of blood as Moka grabbed her luggage and waved as she ran off. “Night to you too, Booker-senpai!”  
  
Will watched her go, waving in return, and once she was out of earshot clapped his hand onto Tsukune’s shoulder. The teen jumped in surprise and was spun around on the spot. The courtyard they were standing in was almost entirely empty, save for the Saint Bernard.  
  
“Tsukune, you need to get the fuck out of here.” The Canadian said with the utmost seriousness. “I don’t know how literally no one else has noticed you’re a human, but you won’t survive a week. Do you understand me?”  
  
Tsukune paled and began babbling something in fear, but stopped when Will held up a hand.   
  
“Look, it might sound preposterous but up until like a month ago I was a regular squishy human. I wasn’t a born a monster. I don’t even have some alternative form.” He slowly explained in a hushed tone.  
  
“W-wait you’re not a monster?!” The teen exclaimed in surprise. “Why are you telling me this?! Are you going to turn me in?!”  
  
“Okay, first calm down.” Will motioned with his hand for him to lower his voice. “Second, no I’m not. I think that’s an asinine policy in the first place. Third, I’m telling you because I was in a similar position to you a month ago. Except,” he jabbed Tsukune in the chest, “you don’t have super strong friends to depend on.”  
  
“W-what about you Booker-senpai?” Tsukune questioned. “You look pretty strong.”  
  
“Yeah, physically, but the difference is I had people who could teleport across the world watching my back. If someone jumped you and I wasn’t in your immediate vicinity, you’d be dead.” He explained further.  
  
The teen blanched and went silent for several seconds before responding. “I… I was actually considering withdrawing from the school. Moka is nice and pretty, but… Everyone else is terrifying.”  
  
“I can totally understand what you mean.” The Canadian nodded in empathy, loosening his grip on the guy’s shoulder. “She seems like a wonderful girl, but the fact of the matter is she’s one person in a sea of monsters. While I’m sure most of them just want to survive, people like Saizou make it their business to start shit.”  
  
“And you make it your business to get in their way?” Tsukune remarked with a hint of levity.  
  
“Heh, exactly.” He half-heartedly laughed, thankful he had gotten through to the kid.  
  
“I’ll write up my notice of withdrawal tonight.” Tsukune sighed in resignation, picking up his own school bag and luggage. “I guess I won’t need to unpack anything…. What about Moka?”  
  
Will frowned slightly and shook his head. He did think the two looked cute and seemed to hit it off, but he didn’t want to encourage any doubt. “She’s not worth your life.”  
  
The teen’s expression fell. “You’re right. Goodnight Booker-senpai. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He despondently replied as he started off.  
  
Will watched him go and exhaling before turning to the bear sized dog. “You think that’s the right decision? The kid’ll get eaten alive and Moka doesn’t look like she could defend herself from a paper bag.”  
  
The dog tilted his head and whined, pressing his nose against Will’s hand and demanding more attention.  
  
“Yeah that’s what I thought.” He returned to rubbing the dog’s chin while simultaneously scratching him behind the ear. “It’s for his own safety. He’ll only be able to fly under the radar for so long before someone notices. I don’t think he could have survived today without me intervening.”  
  
One day in, and already minor craziness abound.  
  
Hopefully things wouldn’t get any worse than this.  
  
\---  
  
The next morning Will stood outside waiting for Tsukune to show up. He wanted the kid out of there as quickly as possible before any misfortune befell him. It didn’t take long for the scent of human to reach his nose, announcing the teen’s arrival.  
  
Will turned and waved at the teen, who was approaching with his hands full of luggage. He kept shooting wary glances to the students passing by him, but seemed otherwise resigned.  
  
He murmured a greeting to the Canadian and put down a bag to pull a letter out of his pocket. “There it is. I wrote up my withdrawal notice.” He sighed as he held it up.  
  
“You’re making the right call, Tsukune. You wouldn’t survive here.” Will stated plainly and patted the teen on the shoulder before he easily plucked the notice from his grasp. “I’ll walk you to the bus stop and turn this in for you.”  
  
“Thanks Booker-senpai.” Tsukune muttered, picking his luggage back up.  
  
“It’s no problem, man.” Will replied as they started walking. The path to the school was short, however they didn’t turn and continued walking towards the distant bus stop. As they did so, Will noticed Saizou pass by them, and he snarled at the punk in response.  
  
The delinquent shot a glare at the taller student and growled, but otherwise continued on without bothering the two of them.  
  
“Senpai, why were you growling at him? Won’t that only make him more agitated?” Tsukune exclaimed in a hushed tone, looking over his shoulder in fear at Saizou.  
  
“He was looking for trouble, trust me. I was just politely telling him to keep his distance.” Will explained, keeping his senses alert for any signs that the punk was about to try to backstab him. He could pick out Saizou’s heavy footsteps from the crowd and heard the delinquent continue walking away.  
  
“How is that polite?” The teen asked in exasperation.  
  
“I didn’t break anything, didn’t I?” Will sarcastically replied before chuckling to himself.  
  
Tsukune looked at him incredulously, before sighing and hanging his head, shoulder slumping forward. “I’m really not cut out for this place.”  
  
“No, you aren’t.”  
  
As they passed the school building itself, they heard Moka call out from behind them. “Tsukune! Booker-senpai!” They both turned and saw her wave as she ran towards them, her oversized jacket fluttering in the breeze. She lunged herself at Tsukune, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
  
A wave of conflicted emotions flashed across the teen’s face, looking distressed by the affection.  
  
Moka released Tsukune and smiled at him. “Where are you guys going? If we don’t hurry we might be late for class.” She grabbed his arm and playfully tugged it back towards the academy. She stopped when she noticed the luggage in his hands, looking perplexed by what. “What are you doing carrying all of that? Didn’t you unpack last night?”  
  
The teen’s gaze fell to the ground, unable to meet her eyes. “I… I’m leaving Moka. I can’t stand it here. I’m going to a human school.”  
  
“What? We talked about them yesterday, Tsukune. They’re awful! Why would you ever want to go?” She asked with concern.  
  
Will looked on impassively. He felt sorry for them, but knew it was in Tsukune’s best interest if he left… even if it wasn’t in Moka’s.   
  
“Moka, if” Tsukune began, still not looking up, “if I was one of those humans that you hate, would you still stop me from leaving?”  
  
The vampire stared at him, eyes wide in shock and incomprehension. “Huh?! What?!”  
  
“I’m a human!” The teen declared, far too loudly for Will’s nerves. The Canadian whipped his face around to make sure there weren’t any bystanders to hear him and was relieved when he sensed no one. It seemed everyone had made their way to class already.  
  
“Because of some of mistake I ended up here even though I’m not a monster.” Tsukune continued on, unaware of the momentarily panic he caused his senpai. “I shouldn’t be here.”  
  
Moka was stunned, pulling her hands close to her chest as she drew back from him. Her shoulders hunched as if she was trying to hide within her own jacket.  
  
The teen spun around and took a step to walk away when she grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned and snapped at her. “Let go! You hate humans, right?! Why would you care if I leave?!”  
  
She reeled back as if slapped, chin beginning to quiver as moisture formed around her eyes. Without another word, the teen began running away and ignored her as she called out to him once more. “Tsukune! Wait!”  
  
She stared at his retreating form as tears began streaming down her face. Her breathing became laboured as she sniffed and wiped her face with the arm of her jacket.  
  
Will felt a stab of guilt through the heart as he saw her cry. He wondered if he was right for encouraging Tsukune to leave…  
  
They were into each other and clicked almost immediately. That was more than he could say about him and Alice when their relationship began. It was a shallow one driven by lust and convenience, and only over time did she begin to open herself up emotionally. They’d grown past being simply lovers into close friends and confidantes. And it was clear as day to him that Moka was lacking emotional support, something it appeared Tsukune could be able to provide for her.  
  
 _No, no matter how close the two might have become over the course of a day it wouldn’t last. He couldn’t defend himself and it would be even more painful for her if he died later on. It’s better to end it before it begins._ He grimly thought to himself.  
  
“I’m sorry, for what it’s worth. He’s better off leaving and never coming back.” The Canadian stoically remarked, hiding his own troubled feelings and turning his back on the girl so he wouldn’t have to see the pained expression on her face. He ignored her muffled sobbing as he went to catch up with Tsukune.  
  
\---  
  
The two men stood beside the pumpkin-headed scarecrow sight announcing the name of the school. The blood red sea gently rolling beneath the vast cliff, and the sky filled with a bleak gloomy overcast.  
  
Tsukune was quiet, a pensive frown set upon his face as he stared off at nothing in particular.  
  
They didn’t have to wait long until a bus pulled up, and its doors slid open. The driver was a tall, lanky man in a blue suit, and hunched over the vehicle’s oversized steering wheel. He was chuckled under his breath, leaving a trail of smoke wafting from his mouth as he puffed on his cigar.  
  
He was surprised at how aromatic the smell was in comparison to cigarettes. He still found it unpleasant, but not overly harsh or repulsive. It was actually the first time he’d ever smelt cigar smoke for that matter.  
  
Will didn’t notice much of an aura from the man despite his mysterious bearing. The faintest hint of power overwhelmed by the mundane smell of car exhaust and cigar smoke.  
  
The Bus Driver turned his head towards the teen, his eyes glowing from under the shadow cast by his chauffeur hat and twinkling with amusement. “So, you’re running away after all? I had hoped you’d last longer, but somehow I had the feeling you’d leave.” His gloved hand grabbed his cigar and gently tapped it out the window before he continued to puff on it. “That’s fine, sonny boy. There’s no shame in that. If you don’t have any regrets, come aboard.”  
  
Tsukune stared hard at the But Driver, not moving from his spot.  
  
“You’ve got to get on the bus, Tsukune,” Will remarked as he idly waved the smoke away from his face, earning a chuckle from the Driver. “I know it must be hard, but it really is for your own safety.”  
  
The teen breathed out and picked up his luggage. “Yeah… I guess you’re right, Booker-senpai.”  
  
“Just get back home and find a safer school to enrol in. That’s-” Will stopped speaking as he heard a high pitched scream echo across the water. It was coming from back along the path, somewhere between the bus stop and school proper.  
  
Even Tsukune heard it, immediately turning his head in the direction of it. “That’s Moka!”  
  
The Canadian could feel the breeze on his face, and with it carried the smell of dog shit. “ ** _Saizou._** ” He growled before kicking off the ground and launching himself into a dead sprint.  
  
\---  
  
Adrenaline began coursing through his veins, heart thumping as he started to see red and shake with rage. He wasn’t as fast as Luka was whenever the hero called upon Sylph, but with his long legs and maniac pace, he could move at respectable speeds. The flat ground offering little obstacles that would impede his movement.  
  
In a fraction of the time it had taken him to walk with Tsukune he’d nearly closed the distance. He could smell and hear them before seeing them, and what was once a small dot quickly grew in size as he neared.  
  
Saizou had dropped any pretence of civility, having shed his human form and revealed himself as an overly muscled ogre-like creature with carapace armour and bone spikes covering his arms and shoulders. He had cornered Moka, leering down at her as a three-foot long prehensile tongue hung in the air, poised to strike his target.  
  
The area was littered with withered dead trees and tombstones along the path. Without missing a beat Will tore a four-foot slab of stone from the ground, breaking chunks of it off in his grip. The punk’s back turned to him, too distracted by his quarry.  
  
His heel dug into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt and debris, as his arms reared back. He was like a batter at home plate and carved a ditch into the earth as he swung upwards between Saizou’s legs.  
  
The delinquent barely had time to react, only just beginning to turn at the sound of Will approaching, before several hundred pounds of stone smashed against his pelvis. The sound of flesh tearing apart and bone breaking apart resounded across the area. The scent of blood already filling the air as it dripped down Saizou’s legs.  
  
The delinquent collapsed to the ground, mouth agape and hands clutching at his crotch. He uttered no sound, the pain too overwhelming to even think straight.  
  
Will marching around the ogre-like monster, bloodstained remains of the shattered pieces of the tombstone in hand and snarled. He heard Moka gasp in shock and disgust at the brutal display of violence.  
  
“ **Saizou.** ” His foot stomped down on the punk’s writhing tongue, holding it in place. “ **I warned you.** ” He growled, his chest reverberating as he spoke. He momentarily considered severing the appendage before violently shaking his head.  
  
He lifted his foot and kicked the side of the delinquent's head. He was sent reeling as a bruise already began to form on his temple. The blow stunned the brute, his eyes momentarily unfocusing.  
  
The scent of human approached them, and Will wanted to give the two friends some privacy. “Moka…. I’m sorry you had to witness that…” He stiffly remarked as he struggled to get his rage under control.  
  
He stepped over the half-unconscious delinquent and dragged him off the path by his collarbone. The teen finally reaching the vampire and immediately seeking to comfort her. The sounds of friendship being declared reached his ears and he found himself in thought.  
  
He used to hate violence. The thought of inflicting so much pain upon someone disturbed him. Maybe that’s why he liked bludgeoning weapons. He could delude himself into ignoring the consequences of his actions by keeping the damage inside. The thought of using a sword repulsed him, yet he was fine breaking bones so long as they remained inside the body.  
  
Was this all he had to look forward to as a monster? Was it just fighting?  
  
He already knew the answer. If he wanted to remain a pacifist it would have meant running and hiding behind his friends. He wanted to contribute, but that meant violence.  
  
“Booker-senpai!” Tsukune called out. “I’m staying!”  
  
Will paused and looked over his shoulder, seeing the obvious trail of blood and disturbed dirt in his wake. More importantly, he saw the two of them, Tsukune and Moka, hugging each other with her face buried in his chest.  
  
He thought they had grown quite close for only knowing each other for a day, but…  _If you click, I guess you really click. I guess I don’t have the heart to put Tsukune on that bus after all. Maybe it’s for the best. The poor girl looks like she could use a friend or two_.  
  
Saizou groaned, reminding the Canadian he had to deal with him. The fucker was a rapist and could have been tossed over the cliff to the rocks without anyone caring, yet in his self-reflection, Will thought back to Alice and Luka.  
  
He wondered if they would have approved or how they would have acted. He knew the hero would disapprove of it, especially since he’d already been dealt with. With Alice though… she was complicated.  
  
“Well, fuck boy, looks like it’s your lucky day. I’m feeling merciful, you know what that means?” Will changed his course towards the school building, adjusting his grip on Saizou’s collarbone. “I’m actually gonna take you to the hospital.” The massive medical building near the academy was hard to miss, and he’d walked around it several times when he familiarized himself with the school.  
  
His pace increased, wanting to get the piece of shit there before he bled out. “I hope you remember this because if you fuck with me or anyone else again I’m putting you in the goddamn morgue.”  
  
He didn’t get a coherent answer, but he thought the grunts of pain were indication enough that the message was understood. He found it amusing that for such a shit starter, Saizou went down like a little bitch. He wondered if every monster in the school was as weak and full of hot air as the delinquent.


	4. Everyday Life with a Magical Girl

A bright, pulsating light was blinking on and off, blinding the poor Canadian each time it rapidly flashed and caused the beginnings of a headache to form in his head.  
  
It hadn’t stopped.  
  
It just wouldn’t stop.  
  
An hour now and it  _still hadn’t stopped._  
  
He just wanted it to stop, so why… why wasn’t…  
  
“Louise…” Jophiel began, his voice hoarse, slipping past dry and cracked lips. “Please…” he pleaded pathetically. “I’m begging you…”  
  
He turned to the front door of his room.  
  
 _“Leave the bloody lightswitch alone!”_  
  
“But it makes no sense!” The tiny mageling asserted, staring up at the blinking light fixture on the ceiling. “How can this magelight not be magic-powered! You’re lying to me, Jophiel! I know you are!” She heatedly declared as she continued to furiously flick the lightswitch next to the entrance.  
  
Jophiel just turned over and groaned loudly into his pillowcase. Their first night there and Louise was behaving in the most obnoxious manner possible. Granted, if she was fish eyeing on some kind of modern technology it meant she wasn’t focusing on-  
  
“...Should I go?” The girl’s voice came out as a highly restrained whimper as the incessant flickering of the bedroom light finally came to a stop, leaving the room in an unpleasantly appropriate darkness.  
  
 _“No,”_  the Canuck forcefully asserted as he quickly sat up and rose to his feet, crossing the small room in a heartbeat and pulling Louise into a tight embrace. “You stay right here, you hear me?” He commanded, placing a hand on the back of her head while pulling her into his chest in an attempt at a comforting gesture.  
  
“B-but…” She began shakily, arms now hanging limply at her sides. “You sounded so… and I took you from… this is all my fault-”  
  
These damned mood swings…  
  
He gently shushed her, now stroking her hair. “Louise, don’t. It’s okay, I’m not mad at you-”  
  
 _“How could you not be?”_  She hissed into his chest, starting to tremble. “I can’t… it takes everything I have to not think about how I’ve- of what I’ve lost… what we’ve lost, what I took you from. I hate what took us from Tristain, how can you not hate me for taking you from-”  
  
He rested his cheek atop her head, hugging her even tighter. “Don’t talk like that. It’s okay. Just don’t think about it, alright?” He cooed. “Everything’s going to be okay. I promise.”  
  
He’d only known the girl a scant two weeks, and so while he wasn’t particularly close to her yet, he’d learned in that time that she was an adorable little bundle of problems barely keeping it together thanks to his sudden appearance as a crutch for her to lean on back on her homeworld.  
  
World-hopping as he had, to this new world, so similar to  _his_  homeworld in so many ways… had given her a rather unpleasant shove towards the edge, and she was dangerously teetering over it now. Such drastic mood swings were… not normal for her, to say the least.  
  
Jophiel had next to no experience with comforting people, so it was all he could do to just keep her placated and distracted. She needed some time to calm down before she should start really thinking about what had happened to them, right?  
  
A few moments passed in silence. Eventually, Louise’s tiny arms reached up and wrapped around Jophiel’s waist, holding onto him with all her might as she let out a shuddering breath.  
  
He held her like that for a good minute, taking deep breaths as she was. Eventually, he felt her head turn to face his left, gazing into the still lit-  
  
“...How does  _that_ thing work?” She asked while staring at the toilet through the open bathroom door.  
  
Jophiel fought the urge to groan.  
  
\---  
  
Two days had passed. Two days in which Jophiel was acclimatizing to school life well enough and Louise was detesting literally everything about the school, loudly complaining about things, and…  
  
“Louise, for God’s sake, you’re gonna develop diabetes at this rate!” The Canadian loudly despaired.  
  
“I am a grown lady and I can put however much sugar I want in my coffee!” the tiny blonde defensively declared as she dumped her fourth tablespoon of sugar into her mug of French Vanilla roast.  
  
“For the love of all that is good and holy, at least don’t put any- LOUISE, STOP!” He cried out as he lunged across the table, an outstretched hand desperately clawing at the air before the noble girl.  
  
“I CAN USE HOWEVER MUCH CREAMER I WANT, JOPHIEL!” Louise shrieked as she jerked the plastic canister out of his reach with a growl.  
  
He was really starting to regret having introduced her to coffee and sugar. He should have known the mistake he was making with how much of a grump she was in the mornings…  
  
“I need it to destress after going through that stupid ‘orientation’ class about ‘modern’ technology the Headmaster insisted I start ahead of time! Do you have any idea what it’s like being treated like an uneducated child because you can’t read crazy moon runes-” she cut herself off, but to Jophiel’s great relief, shook her head and pressed on instead of mood swinging into despair. “What the Hel is an ‘infrared’ supposed to be!? And why were there so many other mages there? So many nobles shouldn’t be having to go through remedial classes before school even starts!”  
  
The Canadian locked up a tad. He knew this was gonna come up eventually and had looked it up in the library, but still…  
  
“Louise, in this world there is no noble class, and mages are in fact a really small minority compared to non-mages, and are secretive and reclusive. There’s a reason nobody’s really batting an eyelash at you not knowing how any technology or such works despite being a young lady,” he explained as he fell back on his rear, the low Japanese-style table not allowing for the usage of chairs.  
  
She visibly locked up, freezing as her brain seemed to crash at his words and requiring several long moments to reboot and spool back up.  
  
“...Oh,” she eventually managed before taking a sip of her unsettlingly bright white coffee. “...I don’t know how I lived without this stuff before now,” she declared, really inelegantly avoiding the topic. “It makes mornings so much easier to get through…”  
  
Granted, he was glad that she wasn’t such a little grump in mornings anymore, but good lord was she overdoing it. “Louise, seriously, lay off the stuff. It’s not good to drink as much as you do so often.”  
  
“ _I can do what I want_ ,” she growled from behind the rim of her mug. “It isn’t like it’s stupefying like alcohol is, so get off my back-”  
  
“It is  _addictive_  like alcohol is, though,” he noted through heavily lidded eyes at the girl.  
  
She froze at that, eyes widening like dinner plates.  
  
“Keep it up, and you’re going to  _need_  to drink that stuff in the mornings to not develop a ruinous headache. There’s a reason I never touch the stuff myself… the godawful taste aside,” Jophiel continued as he raised his glassful of the sweetest ambrosia to his lips.  
  
Dear sweet mother of all that is good and holy did he miss iced tea.  
  
“... _Why would you only tell me this now!?_ ” Louise angrily spat at him. “I don’t want to become some sort of coffee drunkard, you ass!”  
  
“Then put the mug down,” he told her, placing an elbow on the table and leaning heavily on it with a lazy expression on his face.  
  
She started past the rim of her mug for a few long moments, through the steam gently wafting off the surface of the liquid.  
  
“...I can quit anytime I want,” she declared before taking a sip of her drink. “I just don’t want to right now.”  
  
“...Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Jophiel shrugged as he picked up the remote and turned on the TV. It was a cheap, if modern flat screen, thankfully. And given whose it was at the moment, it was already turned to the anime channel.  
  
A beat passed before Jophiel recognized the blonde-haired, red-eyed teenaged girl dressed in a regal gown, addressing a crowd before her…  
  
He was about to desperately turn off the TV once it became clear it was Cross Ange, but a tiny hand rocketed across the table and grabbed at the device in his hand. “Wait!” Louise cried out. “...I want to see what this is. It looks… intriguing.”  
  
As a massive weight dropped into his gut, Jophiel recognized that, once again, he’d made a terrible mistake.  
  
\---  
  
“NO, DON’T!” the tiny blonde cried out as Jophiel marched up to the TV and hastily moved to shut it off the next day. “PLEASE, IT’S SO GOO-”  
  
“LOUISE, I WANT TO KEEP LOVING YOU, SO FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST DON’T FINISH THAT STATEMENT!” Jophiel heatedly and desperately shot back at the girl that was currently wrapped up in a blanket cocoon, nestled in front of his TV marathoning fucking  _Cross Ange_  of all things.  
  
“But Jophiel!” She cried out from within her bright green blanketed fortress. “You don’t understand! It’s so deep, and the characters are so complex! So much more than any play back home, and Princess Angelise, Ange! Her story is so relatable, she’s such a-”  
  
He turned off the TV.  
  
“NOOOO!” She cried out as he reached down and took advantage of the tiny girl’s constricted position to hoist her up and over his shoulder. “JOPHIEL, STOP! LET ME WATCH IT!”  
  
“I’m doing this for your own good, Louise!” He declared as he started marching for the front door, damn well intending to bring her outside and away from the anime that was rapidly causing her to go full fucking Umaru, but with oranges and coffee instead of potato chips and soda, because the Halkegenians didn’t have citrus and she’d quickly become addicted to them.  
  
Stepping over the many,  _many_  peels scattered around his living room, he grimly pressed onwards, ignoring the tiny girl’s protests to be left alone to watch anime.  
  
God as his witness, he wasn’t going to allow Louise to become a hikikomori.  
  
\---  
  
Their fourth day at Yokai Academy. Jophiel dropped Louise off at her classes again, and once again she was swarmed by ‘witches’ that were treating her like the super rich well-to-do popular girl in class. It was better than her being ostracized, but it was clearly overwhelming her a tad.  
  
Regardless, the Canuck had no business there himself, so he had little reason to stick around. Once more, he took to wandering the school grounds and familiarizing himself with everything before the school year started proper.  
  
There were a few other students present, many of whom kept giving him…  _odd_  looks when he passed them by. Initially he just figured that it was because he was a huge westerner, being some six feet tall, but eventually, he realised there was a lot more to the looks than that. Something he… couldn’t quite place, but it was making him a little uncomfortable.  
  
Either way, adjusting back to modern life wasn’t taking long at all. He’d dare say that he was rather glad to have access to technology again. Being able to actually plug his Vita into an outlet and use the damned thing was going a long way to helping him unwind as well. He’d missed video games in his two-week stint in fantasy land.  
  
Making his way outside, Jophiel passed by that grouping of vending machines and paused to peruse what was on offer...  
  
...Dr. Doctor brand minute burgers?  
  
That was a weird name for a microwaveable burger of all things, but it  _had_  been a fair while since he’d eaten one, and he hadn’t seen anywhere else to buy the things on campus…  
  
Digging out his wallet and withdrawing a few of the yen he’d received when he’d converted what little Canadian dollars he’d had with him when he world hopped the first time, he deposited them into the machine and in moments he had a vacuum-sealed burger ready to be thrown in the microwave back in his room.  
  
Just as good ol’ Uncle Sam intended.  
  
Realizing he’d need a drink to accompany his meal, he stepped aside to the soda machine set up next to the food machine…  
  
…  
  
Apparently, Dr. Doctor was also a soda brand, but the dude in the motorcycle helmet giving him a thumbs-up on the can was giving him a weird vibe, so he instead opted to go for “Juyo Juice.”  
  
Granted, the smiling, bearded bespectacled man on the label of that drink was unsettling in his own special way, but the biker was really getting to him for some reason.  
  
His lunch gathered up for that day, Jophiel nodded, spun on his heel, and started back towards the dorms-  
  
“Kya-!” A girly shriek came when he stepped around the corner and squarely walked into someone tiny. She was so small that he’d thought he’d walked into Louise at first, but then…  
  
The momentary soft,  _soft_  sensation on his belly before the girl stumbled back on her heel quickly disabused him of that notion.  
  
Louise wasn’t sporting no E-cups last time he checked.  
  
A pale yellow sweater vest worn over the same white blouse and pleated plaid skirt that Louise herself had switched to a few days prior, though with the red tie swapped out with a large, ruby red ribbon, her outfit was kind of eye-catching compared to those he’d seen on the few other girls that were present around the academy before the school year actually started.  
  
Quickly tearing his gaze from the mountainous sweater puppies below, Jophiel switched to the girl’s face as hard and fast as he could…  
  
...Only to be stunned by her Macaw blue hair tied up in a cute decorated ponytail with parted bangs.  
  
The lack of a visible differing root colour and her eyebrows were the same rich hue as her hair really caught him off guard. Kirche’s hair had been an equally stunning Macaw red, but red was at least actually on the human colour palette last he checked…  
  
“Oh, who-” the short-stacked girl started with a furrowed brow before something seemed to catch her attention, or rather her nose, at which point she took a long, deep inhale through her nostrils as she seemed to find herself in the presence of the most sweetest scent she’d yet encountered in her life.  
  
For a moment, Jophiel wondered if she could somehow smell his burger through its plastic packaging despite still being cold.  
  
“Oh, my… so this is what...” She opened her eyes wide, revealing two large amethyst irises gazing up at him, positively sparkling with excitement. “M-my apologies, sir…” she started with a demure smile. “I didn’t see you there, I didn’t mean to bump into you like that.”  
  
He blinked.  
  
Sweet baby Jesus was she cute- rather, beautiful. Long lashes, an almost unsettlingly perfectly shaped smile and cute, feminine facial structure…  
  
He shook his head. Don’t be an ass, you ass! No girl likes being openly gawked at!  
  
“Sorry, didn’t see you there,” he repeated right back at her before he realised what he was doing, followed by him internally groaning as he realised that he just spilled some spaghetti in doing so. “I’ll be on my way then-” he started off, moving to step around her before he embarrassed himself more.  
  
“Wait!” She cried out, almost… desperately-? Nah, he was just imagining things. “Hold on a moment… I’m Kurumu, Kurumu Kuruno. What’s your name?” She sweetly asked, standing on the tips of her toes as she seemed to be… arching her chest out at him?  
  
...Nah, he was just overthinking it.  
  
“Jophiel,” he stated, continuing to give that fake name he’d been using back in Halk… “Or Joe, if you’d prefer,” before realising he could just cite cultural differences if Louise asked why everyone was using a shorthand ‘nickname’ when speaking his name aloud.  
  
“I think I very much would…” She… purred-?  
  
Jophiel mentally kicked himself. He was really clearly trying to see hints that weren’t there because this girl was  _really fucking cute_ , and so made a note to very deliberately reign himself in. “Haha, whatever you say miss Kuruno-”  
  
 _“Kurumu,”_  she pressed, leaning in with an alluring smile.  
  
“-Kurumu,” he corrected. “But anyways, didn’t mean to bump into you like that, I’ll just be on my-”  
  
“Hey,” she cut him off, sounding a tad annoyed for some reason. “My eye kind of stings,” she said in a plaintive tone. “Can you tell me if there’s something in it?”  
  
Oh, that didn’t sound good.  
  
He Leaned in and focusing on her eyes to see if he could spot the source of her discomfort, the tiny stacked bombshell smiled widely at that, almost triumphantly, curiously enough-  
  
“There…” She cooed in an almost cocky tone, her eyes positively boring into his own. “Was that so hard~?”  
  
Jophiel blinked.  
  
“Was what so hard?”  
  
A beat.  
  
Kurumu blinked, seeming to suffer a momentary runtime error.  
  
“Wha- huh?” She stammered a bit, looking shocked. “Wait, but I- how are you not-?”  
  
Jophiel returned to his full height, an eyebrow cocked at the girl. “...How am I not what?” He asked cautiously.  
  
A second passed before the girl smiled beautifically up at him. “Oh, I was just about to say thank you, my eye seems to be better already, but I really appreciate your concern!” She declared cheerfully. “Joe, you said your name was?” She asked as she stepped alongside him and took a firm hold of his arm, planting it squarely between her ample breasts without missing a beat as she started walking along, pressing him forward out of the blue.  
  
Though he was surprised, he recovered quickly enough. Luckily, this was a position he’d long since grown used to with his friends from high school, and so he knew that there was nothing to the motion that might have seemed a little forward at first. Girls were just grabby and holdy like that in general.  
  
“Uh, yes, hold on, I-” he started with some confusion regardless, given that he wasn’t expecting to be suddenly latched into by some random, blue-haired girl.  
  
“I just arrived at school, you look like you know your way around the place, could you show me around? Pretty please?” She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, still gazing up at him with wide, pleading eyes.  
  
...He was intending to just go back to his room, eat his damned burger and watch some Chinese cartoons, but…  
  
Damn his weakness to the requests of girls.  
  
“I think you’d be better off asking literally anyone else,” Jophiel began with a forced half-smile. “But if you insist, I suppose I could.”  
  
“Oh, I knew that you looked like a nice person!” Kurumu happily declared, embracing his arm even tighter with a joyful squeeze. “I’m so glad to have made a new friend already!”  
  
...Well, she seemed like a nice enough girl, if nothing else. Still, not even a few days back into highschool, and already he was making lady friends without even trying again. Jophiel wasn’t really sure why had such an easy time making friends with women, but he wasn’t going to complain.  
  
Especially if the girls in this school were all going to be as pleasant as Kurumu seemed to be.


	5. More Than You Can Chew

Will found himself once more doing his morning “commute” to school. He’d dropped Saizou off at the on-campus hospital the day before, and the piece of shit would live, at the very least. He wouldn’t be doing well for the next few weeks though, but Will didn’t really care that much. He offered the delinquent a gesture of mercy and hoped that he wouldn’t come to regret it.  
  
 _Saizou’s an unrepentant asshole, but… I don’t know. I just wouldn’t have felt right leaving him to die_. The Canadian thought to himself with a slight frown.  
  
“Booker-senpai, are you feeling okay?” Tsukune inquired with a hint of concern, glancing over at his friend and struggling to keep pace with him. “It looks like something’s troubling you.”  
  
“Oh, uh, just thinking about yesterday,” Will replied as he slowed down somewhat. “I just hope we don’t have to deal with someone like Saizou again.” He idly glanced around at the other students around them. They were all headed in the direction of the campus.  
  
He heard their whispers. The words that they spoke when they thought nobody else was listening. There were mundane, trivia matters discussed between friends and classmates. People complaining about homework already being assigned, or wondering which clubs they would join together.  
  
But more so there was a running topic throughout many of the not-so-private conversations. The blatant stares and glances the gaijin received made it clear he was a subject of interest. Specifically the fight with Saizou.  
  
He’d made quite the impression when he dragged the punk across campus to the hospital, and there were quite a few witnesses that saw that. So while the fight wasn’t seen by anyone besides those involved, the aftermath was clear as day. Their previous confrontation in the hallway was also already well known, and it was already becoming rumour to avoid messing with the giant white dude.  
  
Tsukune’s expression fell and he nodded in understanding. “Ah, yeah, that was brutal what you did to Saizou. It took a while to calm Moka down.”  
  
Will faintly winced and clicked his tongue. “I do regret that, but I think most of the damage stayed inside his body so she didn’t see any gore.”  
  
“She still heard it and saw the effect it had on him.” The teen pointed out and sighed. “She’s not ungrateful Booker-senpai. Just… maybe try to tone down the aggression. You’re just going to draw more attention to yourself, and us too.”  
  
“Hey I won’t go looking for trouble, but I have a feeling it’ll keep finding its way to me… Then again it’s entirely possible that Saizou will be the end of our troubles and everyone can enjoy a regular school year.” He replied with a shrug, not believing that was likely. “But I will do my best.”  
  
“Just try,” Tsukune repeated in resignation.  
  
“I will, I will.” He held his hands up. “I don’t like getting angry and worked up in the first place. I rather relax than get into a fight, but if push comes to shove, well…” He trailed off, the implication left unsaid.  
  
As they neared the school building itself, Will sensed Moka’s approach and turned in time to see the vampire latch onto Tsukune with a hug. “Good morning Tsukune!” She cheerfully declared.  
  
The teen had been caught off guard by the tackle, stumbling a bit and muttering out a greeting of his own. “Uh, morning Moka.”  
  
Already he could hear the mutterings of the crowd, guys jealous that an average nobody like Tsukune was getting the attention of a pretty girl like Moka. They dared not speak aloud or openly declare their hostile intentions, presuming their desires to be unknown even as they openly gawk and glare.  
  
Will surveyed the crowd, harshly glaring at many of them, he paused as he spotted a tall foreign student further along the path walking beside a much shorter girl. The girl’s strawberry blonde hair gave it away, while the guy was darker skinned than the other students. Will couldn’t see much but thought it was a vaguely Mediterranean tan.  
  
What drew his attention further was the faint smell of human wafting through the air, and it followed in the foreign student’s wake.  
  
 _Really? Another human on campus?_  He thought to himself as he stared in confusion.  
  
The blonde girl split off from the guy, seeming distressed about the separation, before reluctantly continuing off in another direction. Only a few seconds later a bluenette emerged from the crowd and cosied up beside him, taking his arm in her hands and pressing her chest against him. The girl was weak but stronger than the human.  
  
 _Huh, I guess that’s why he’s staying too. He found a girlfriend that can probably protect him._  
  
He felt a faint sense of recognition as the guy turned to the side to greet the bluenette, and Will got a glimpse of his face.  
  
“Booker-senpai,” Moka hesitantly interrupted his musing, looking up at him, “uh, morning.”  
  
Will ignored the fleeting sense of familiarity and warmly smiled at the vampire. “Good morning, Moka, I hope that you slept well, especially after the events of yesterday.”  
  
She cringed slightly, eyes following downwards. “Well enough, I guess. Thanks for asking though.”  
  
 _Ugh, feels like I have the social grace of a fucking bull. I swear, too long only interacting with close friends and monsters degraded my small talk skills._  He thought to himself. _I wasn’t this bad before_.  
  
“That’s good to hear.” He replied as they continued walking as a group. “So you two want to hang out between classes? It’ll be nice to just relax. The last few days have been pretty stressful.” He muttered.  
  
“Sure, that sounds like fun,” Moka replied, perking up. She was still latched to Tsukune’s side, holding his arm while subtly leaning against him.  
  
“Yeah, same.” Tsukune nodded in agreement as a blush crept onto his cheeks and he rubbed the back of his head.  
  
“Great, I’ll find you guys then,” Will said as they continued on to the school, quickly splitting off from Moka and Tsukune as the two went their own way.  
  
\---  
  
He’d suffered through more boring classes and found himself sitting on the steps of the school in a low traffic area. It still amazed him that a school with so many students could have empty areas like that literally right outside a door…  
  
 _It was probably to avoid becoming isolated. There’s safety in staying in a group in a crowded public place._ He thought.  _Wandering around alone is asking for trouble to find you_.  
  
The privacy was necessary given the nature of the discussion.  
  
“Booker-senpai, you’re a human too?” Moka exclaimed in surprise, leaning forward to look past Tsukune to the upperclassman.  
  
He slowly lowered his hand, motioning for her to lower voice. “I swear, everyone in this school must be deaf if they can’t hear us.” He shook his head and sighed. “To answer your question, I’m technically a human, kind of. I don’t have some alternative form I can change into it and I’m not sealed at all.”  
  
He gestured to himself. “What you see is what you get.”  
  
“How did that happen anyway?” Tsukune asked in curiosity as he shifted his body to better face Will.  
  
“Well, it took a bit of preparation to get my body used to having,” he paused, considering the right word to use that wouldn’t require too much explanation, “I guess, mana in it.”  
  
“Oh, you mean yoki!” The vampire piped up like a student with the correct answer to a question. “That’s the source of a monster’s power.”  
  
“Yeah, had to get my body used to metabolically processing it, and then I got a blood transfusion from a very powerful monster.” He felt a tinge of phantom pain sting across his body and he shuddered at the memory. “It wasn’t a pleasant procedure, but it worked and after a week or so I’d ‘transformed’ into a monster blooded human.”  
  
“That doesn’t sound very safe,” Tsukune remarked as he paled.  
  
“She was a universal donor, it’s fine.” He waved off the teen’s remark. “Still not something I’d recommend trying. There’s just so many ways it could go wrong.”  
  
“It sounds like it,” Moka interjected in agreement.  
  
“And that’s why I’m glad I’m perfectly fine, all things considered,” Will replied and unwrapped his snack. He noticed a vending machine earlier and Tsukune took pity on his broke ass, and bought the upperclassman a “burger.”  
  
The directions on the plastic wrapping said to microwave it, but he didn’t see one nearby and didn’t really care. It was a heavily salted patty with a slice of processed cheese on top stuffed between a stale dried out bun. It was a cheap piece of instant fast food, meant for a consumer on the go without time to spare, or willingness to put out the effort to actually cook something.  
  
And the Canadian found himself savouring it. It was garbage compared to anything he or Luka could have made, but that was what he loved about it. He didn’t have to cook it.  
  
“Tsukune,” he paused between bites, “you’ve done me a great service today. It’s been ages since I’ve had shitty fast food- No, no, shitty  _prepackaged_ food.” He’d had street food a few times before and it was usually good, but he had a soft spot for cheap shitty food, especially if it was salted.  
  
 _Dr. Doctor brand foods certainly delivered in this case. I got my money’s worth out of it_.  
  
“You’re welcome, Booker-senpai?” Tsukune replied in uncertainty. “It’s no problem.”  
  
The vampire nudged the teen’s side as she leaned in closer. “Tsukune,” she brushed her hair aside and looked up at him, “I was feeling hungry too. Do you mind if I have a snack?”  
  
“Oh, uh, sure, sure! I have some more spare change-” He excitedly reached for his pocket, only to be cut off as Moka leaned in closer. Their faces were a scant few inches apart, when she went for his neck and bite him. The air was filled by the faint sound of slurping as she drank his blood.  
  
The vampiric ‘kiss’ ended only a few moments later, and Tsukune shot up clutching his neck. The wounds were superficial, tiny pinpricks barely trickling any blood at all.  
  
Moka had the decency to look embarrassed, rubbing her arm. “Heh, sorry Tsukune, but your aroma smells so good. I can’t help myself.”  
  
“You can’t just suck my blood like that!” Tsukune exclaimed in pain, before shooting a glance to Will. “And why are you just sitting there still eating?!”  
  
The Canadian didn’t immediately respond, taking a moment to finish off his burger and utterly unphased by the display. He did manage to bite back his immediate response to say he’d seen worse and then start bringing up examples. “When you travel with four other people and end up having to share a room a lot, you get used to stuff like that.”  
  
The teen scoffed and started marching off. “I’m not your food, Moka!” He loudly declared over his shoulder.  
  
“Wait, Tsukune.” The vampire raised her hand and weakly called after him, staring at his retreating form for several seconds. Her gaze slowly fell as she wrapped her arms around herself.  
  
Will slowly exhaled and gently patted Moka on the shoulder. She jumped in surprise at the contact but didn’t shrug his hand off.  
  
“Moka, you really need to ask permission before you do that. It’s pretty rude to just do that.” He firmly stated before retracting his hand. He balled up his wrapper and stuffed it into his pocket to throw out later.  
  
“Should I go after him and apologize?” She quietly asked.  
  
“I’d recommend waiting until later before saying anything. He’s a little worked up and probably won’t respond well.” The Canadian softly recommended.  
  
Moka went silent for a few seconds before perking her head up and nervously looking towards Will. She seemed to be retreating into her oversized jacket, shoulders hunched and hands fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. “Am I a bad person for wanting to drink his blood? It’s just… It’s just so delicious.”  
  
“No, you’re not. Doing it without consent is the issue.” He hummed as he idly scratched the side of his head. “It’s also probably messing with him a bit. He thinks you’re going in for a kiss then you sink your teeth into his neck. It’s kind of sending mixed signals.” He explained with a sympathetic wince and a half-hearted shrug.  
  
“I… I want to be friends with Tsukune. I don’t just like him because of his blood.” She muttered, her gaze falling to the ground.  
  
“That’s good to hear,” he nodded, “but don’t feel too guilty about liking it either. It might seem shallow, but physical attraction and stuff like that can eventually lead to an actual relationship. It just shouldn’t be the core of said relationship.”  
  
“That sounds a little shallow but I think I know what you mean.” She responded before sighing. “I’m going to go wait for class to start. I’ll see you later, Booker-senpai.” She pushed herself off the stairs and stepped back into the school.  
  
“Later Moka.” He replied, turning his head and waving as she left. Once she entered the building and was out of earshot he shook his head. “Damn, she’s got some baggage. They’re young and dumb, but I think they might work out.” He muttered to himself.  
  
 _And yet twenty-four hours ago I was insisting Tsukune should leave. That a relationship wasn’t worth his life. Since when did I become such a romantic?_  
  
The school’s bell softly chimed, informing students that they should return to class or quickly find a really good hiding spot. He stood up, dusting himself off as he walked into the school.  
  
\---  
  
“I feel a little bad about the outburst. I don’t want to hurt Moka’s feelings.” Tsukune said with a frown, hands stuffed into his pockets.  
  
“Yeah, she seems like the sensitive sort. I told her to ask permission before doing that again.” Will replied, walking alongside the teen as they went through the halls.  
  
“You ever think I don’t like getting my blood sucked?” The teen sarcastically retorted.  
  
“If you don’t want her too then say so. I think you like it though because you’ve got a pretty girl necking with you.” The upperclassman dryly replied.  
  
Tsukune stumbled for a second, before catching himself. He looked away and he rubbed the back of his head as a faint blush formed on his cheeks. “N-no. That isn’t- That’s not a r-reason.” He sputtered in embarrassment.  
  
“Hey man, I ain’t judging.” He laughed and shook his head, but stopped when he heard something. It was Moka’s voice, sounding slightly distressed. She wasn’t in sight but he knew she wasn’t too far; just around a corner and down another hall.  
  
He ignored the chatter of everyone else and focused in on her conversation.  
  
She was speaking with another girl, someone he didn’t immediately recognize by voice. “I’m going to prove I’m better than you, Moka, by stealing Tsukune! How dare you think you can claim even one man from my all-encompassing harem!”  
  
“What? Tsukune doesn’t have anything to do with this. What are you talking about?” Moka frantically replied in confusion. “I don’t even know you.”  
  
“Don’t play dumb.” The other girl spat. “You think you can charm him with your good looks and shy demeanour, then suck him dry like a blood bag. I won’t stand to put up with interfering with my plan. There are men dreaming about  _you_  when they should be dreaming about  _me_.”  
  
Will’s pace picked up, power walking down the hall and hands curling up into fists. He was getting angry, pissed off that some bitch decided to pick on Moka.  
  
 _Day Fucking Three and people still need to be taught a lesson!_  
  
He turned the corner and immediately spotted a short blue haired girl taunting the brown haired vampire. He realized he saw the blunette earlier that day.  
  
“I’m- I’m not using him like that,” Moka responded sounding upset.  
  
“I don’t care what you say. It’s nothing but empty excuses and lies.” The blunette leaned in close to Moka and whispered. “I’m going to make sure you don’t have any friends before the end of the week. I’m going to steal Tsukune away from you just like you tried to steal men’s attention away from  _me_.”  
  
Will began growling as he closed the distance, effortlessly shoving aside students in the assembled crowd watching the heated argument. He boldly strode right up to the bluenette and grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. She was short, not even coming up to his shoulders, but absolutely stacked.  
  
He idly thought she wouldn’t have looked out of place in MGQ.  
  
“Did I just hear you correctly? It sounds like you were threatening my friends.” He snarled and glared directly into her purple eyes.  
  
The girl seemed unphased by his appearance and smirked in triumph. “And how could I forget about the giant foreigner upperclassman?” She purred as she eyed him up before meeting his gaze.  
  
In an instant, he suddenly began feeling… tired. He blinked hard as his eyelids felt heavy and his mind slowly started to go blank. He heard whispers in the back of his mind, luring him into a trance and promising pleasure in return for servitude and submission.  
  
It was a feeling he had become familiar with.  
  
“No senpai! Don’t get him involved too!” Moka shouted, sounding completely distraught and reaching a hand out towards Will.  
  
The bluenette laughed and latched onto Will’s arm, pressing her body against his and running her hand over his chest. “Remember this lesson Moka. You deserve nothing and anything you have I won’t hesitate to take away from you.” She continued laughing with joy and satisfaction.  
  
His first instinct was to give in to the temptation and relax. His mind drifted to thoughts of Alice, the only monster that had actually hypnotized him successfully after many failures. So he had come to unconsciously associate it with her.  
  
Moka’s eyes began to moisten as she pulled her arm back and clasped her hands together. “Senpai snap out of it! Don’t trust her!”  
  
But he knew Alice wasn’t there. The desire to submit was drowned out as sobriety came screeching to the forefront and with a faint twitch, he effortlessly broke free from the Charm.  
  
His grip on the bluenette’s shoulder tightened, catching her attention. “Did you just try to fucking hypnotize me...?” He lowly growled at her. He’d been caught unprepared, momentarily taken in by the effect, but it was nothing compared to what Alice and Yao subjected him to as a way of building up a resistance to the ability.  
  
“Oh?” She looked back up at him. “That’s weird. I guess foreigners are just mentally stronger than Japanese monsters.” She stood on the tips of her shoes as she stared into his eyes again. “Just need to up the power then~”  
  
He felt himself shaking in fury at the sight of her cocky, shameless smirk and reared his fist back.  
  
\---  
  
Jophiel rolled a shoulder as he marched towards the main hallways leading towards the dorms. He was absolutely dominating the English class, and that was weird to get used to. He was actually getting people asking him to help him study!  
  
He wasn’t going to, of course. He had to focus on keeping Louise’s mind off of stuff, and also he didn’t want to. Regardless…  
  
He let out a long sigh, wondering how many steps he was going to be able to take before little Kurumu came barreling in like a bat out of hell and lay claim to his arm today. That girl was friendly as fuck, damn near more so than any other he’d met up to that point. It was a little odd, but not unwelcome. Louise was great and all, but her stiff noble bearing routine did get a little old after a while.  
  
His heavy heels thumping off the polished linoleum floors, the Canuck marched onwards with nary a care in the world until…  
  
“Oh man, that doesn’t look good!” A random student declared while peeking around the corner of the hall. “The huge fucking westerner is getting right up in Kuruno’s face!”  
  
Jophiel stopped dead in his tracks, feeling his heart drop and his temper flare. Huge westerner? Jophiel was himself the only westerner that he noticed in the school aside from Louise...  
  
“Oh man, what the fuck is up with that guy? She barely comes up to his chest! Why’s he being so aggressive- why isn’t she running away or something!? Doesn’t she know what a fucking psycho that guy is!?”  
  
“Didn’t he put Saizou in the hospital?”  
  
“He shattered the guy’s fucking pelvis! Holy shit, someone has to step in and do something!”  
  
“I’m not gonna do it! Look at that guy, he’s snarling like an animal-”  
  
Just as Jophiel began to drop into a running stance to charge, a deep, meaty ‘thwack’ echoed off the walls of the hallways, followed by a shrill, pained scream, and… Kurumu came  _flying_  past the corner, slamming into a locker hard enough to leave a dent in it.  
  
Blood was streaming down her face, mixing with tears and a shuddering cry of agony.  
  
Within a heartbeat, his vision tunnelling, breath going shallow, mind going blank, Jophiel was kneeling before her as shouts of confusion and horror abounded from all directions, but before he could say or do anything, he twisted around and saw him.  
  
The fucker, the  _mad dog_  had to have five or six inches on Jophiel, built like a fucking Space Marine, he was  _throwing other students around_  as they tried to jump on him, presumably in an attempt to pin down the mother fucker that just  _threw a five-foot-nothing sweetheart into a wall_.  
  
Already, Jophiel was on his feet, marching towards the bastard without sparing a word to the blue-haired girl that he’d made fast friends with, even as she reached out and tried to grasp at the sleeve of his jacket. So complete was the fury overtaking him at that moment, preventing him from seeing anything other than the son of a bitch that just laid hands on someone that had deigned to treat him as a friend.  
  
He wanted to behave like a mad dog?  
  
He’d get  _put down_  like a mad dog.  
  
\---  
  
Will grabbed a student that had thrown himself onto his back, and swung him over, nailing another two thralls and sending them flying. He was holding back, trying to avoid brutalizing the poor schmucks that got charmed by the succubus.  
  
He caught the scent of a human and spun around to notice the foreigner he’d spotted earlier that day fast approaching. His grimace deepened as he burned with anger.  
  
 _That fucking cunt! Taking advantage of some fucking human that got stuck here!_  
  
He tossed another student off himself before spinning and throwing a punch at the foreigner. He aimed for the face, and it connected with the human’s cheek, forcing him to a knee with the force of the blow.  
  
Will’s gaze shot up and he glared at the bluenette still on the ground leaning against the wall. Pissed beyond belief at the little bitch that had forced him to raise his hand against a helpless human. “I’m going to break your fucking jaw, you little bitch!”  
  
Just as the words left his mouth, it was like a  _flashbang grenade_  went off right at his feet, and before he could react, Will felt a terrible pain arc through his body beginning in his jaw, his teeth producing an audible, almost glass-like snap as his mouth was  _violently_  slammed shut from the bottom up.  
  
The way everything suddenly started spinning as vertigo overtook all of his senses didn’t help matters much either.  
  
Within a few seconds, his back impacted with something, and Will recovered quickly enough to realise he was staring up at the ceiling.  
  
He’d just been hit hard enough to send him spinning up into the air, uppercut.  
  
But what could have-  
  
“Booker-senpai!” Moka’s voice cut through the air in sheer terror as  _something_  launched itself towards him.  
  
It was like having a ball of pure, unfettered, raw  _power_  barreling right at him, nearly overwhelming all of his senses as  _something_  approached from above in a parabolic arc.  
  
Will rolled, and the floor where his head had been an instant earlier  _exploded_.  
  
Leaping to his feet, away from the all-encompassing danger, it was only after he’d placed a few metres between himself and the  _threat_  that he got a good look at it.  
  
It was the man, the foreigner. Pulling his fist out of the cratered floor, eyes locked on Will, burning with the all-consuming rage of a thousand white-hot suns as his long, wild hair fell off his shoulders like a warrior out of myth.  
  
At that moment, there was only one thing Will could think to compare the sheer,  _terrifying_   _power overwhelming_  radiating off of the man, practically sloughing off of him in great waves, his left hand almost visibly glowing like an actual fire.  
  
It was like he was face-to-face with one of the Four Heavenly Knights.  
  
It was at that moment that Will had realised…  
  
 _He’d fucked up._


	6. Together Again

Will glared hard at the foreigner and hid the rising terror in the back of his mind. He thought the man was a human, not a fucking beast! He shot a brief glance to the other thralls, all laid out across the hall and incapacitated. They were out and the hypnotism either worn off or they were too injured to keep fighting.  
  
 _Kurumu bagged herself a big one... how the fuck am I going to knock this fucker out?!_  He mentally screamed as the difficulty of the fight was already apparent to him.  _I’ve got no weapons! No armour! No backup!_  
  
Will snarled as his growl deepened. He doubted he could intimidate the foreigner, the power gap between them was too wide, but he hoped he could knock some sense into him.  
  
His mind was racing as he considered it. Go on the attack and hope he could knock off the hypnosis before he got put down. It’d worked on the other thralls.  
  
Moka started to move to place herself between the two, practically screaming in despair, begging for the two to stop.  
  
The Foreigner ignored the small, brunette girl and started to walk towards Will, his aura looking for all the world like a goddamned bonfire in a sea of torches. Again, he had to note, bearing an uncomfortable resemblance to Granberia specifically. His path was going to quickly intersect with Moka’s.  
  
The figurative red sea of students that had been walking through the halls parted dramatically as he marched forth. It was clear to everyone just how powerful this Foreigner was, even as Moka seemed to ignore it.  
  
Eyes turning wide as dinner plates, seeing the immeasurable danger Moka was placing herself in, Will launched himself forward past the girl, rushing the Foreigner and catching him off guard. [He slammed into the shorter man, hauling him onto his shoulder, and plowed right into the pillar across the hall, stone crashing under the blow and cracks flaring along its length.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG8YTAoRWEQ)  
  
He knew he had to end the fight,  _now_ , and the only chance of doing that was knocking off the hypnosis.  
  
Will reared his fist back and smashed it into the Foreigner’s face, and followed it up with another strike. He continued wailing on the smaller man, throwing a flurry of quick, powerful jabs into his chest and head, each impact producing a loud thump that rebounded off the walls of the two-story hallway.  
  
Rearing up for another heavy blow, Will threw a haymaker with intent to drop the Foreigner outright. The smaller man ducked without missing a beat, and the great marble pillar he’d been pressed up against exploded from the impact of Will’s mighty hybrid fist. A blow which would have killed any regular human outright.  
  
Before he could react, Will felt the wind rush out of his lungs as a single, powerful blow sent him soaring again, arcing through the air and wheezing as he harshly impacted against a hard wall.  
  
An audible  _crack_ resounded out, not produced from Will’s body.  
  
Though he’d had the wind knocked out of him from both directions, his sense remained, and so, when the Foreigner leapt at him with a single, mighty step, arm rearing back for another terrifyingly powerful strike. Will quickly side-stepped, and with a terrible crash the smaller man’s arm punched clean through the wall up to his shoulder, presenting his back to Will.  
  
Will seized upon the opportunity and grabbed the back of the Foreigner’s head, smashing his face into the wall. He didn’t hold back as he slammed his head into the wall, breaking through it with several consecutive strikes. He noted with mounting distress that every crunch he heard was coming from the wall itself, and not the man’s skull.  
  
To Will’s great horror, the Foreigner tore his arm through the wall in a spinning backhand motion towards him.  
  
Not  _out_  of the wall,  _through_ the inches-thick wall, leaving a great arm-length tear through the solid, reinforced wood as splinters and paint chips cascaded across the hallway along with Will’s ragdolled body. The remaining students witnessing the fight shrieking in terror as they were showered in debris, many backing away but not outright running from the spectacle.  
  
The slap had been among the worst the massive Canuck had ever experienced, sent a shock through his entire body which stunned him badly enough to prevent him from recovering mid-flight… allowing him to fly right into another pillar as a result, which went soaring with him as he broke through it with a rancorous crash.  
  
He came to a rolling stop, slowly coming to his senses and pushing himself off the ground. He had to use the broken pillar as support, grabbing onto it to steady himself.  
  
The only hit that even compared to that was when he trained with Yao, and the eight-tailed kitsune decided to give him a taste of true monstrous strength. He realized how truly out of his depth he was, but he wasn’t about to show it or back down. Kurumu hadn’t called off her thug yet, and he wasn’t about to lay down to fucking die.  
  
The Foreigner shook what debris had embedded itself into the sleeve of his academy jacket off, revealing great, massive gouges in the sleeve which was now hanging from the coat by a few ruined strips of fabric. The skin beneath absolutely unblemished.  
  
Will glared before shooting a look towards the ruined pillar. “Why won’t you stay down?!” He roared as he grabbed the pillar, his hands easily sinking into the marble and hefting it into the air. He lunged himself forward as he swung his oversized weapon like a bat, slamming into the Foreigner and putting him through the wall he’d just broken out of.  
  
The momentum carried the pillar clean through the entire section, sending a shower of splinters as the wall and classroom door was entirely obliterated.  
  
But mere seconds passed before enough airborne debris cleared to allow Will a view into the classroom. The Foreigner was on his ass, back against the wall… and rapidly rising to his feet as if nothing had happened.  
  
Throwing restraint to the wind, Will steadied his grip on his weapon, pointing it straight at the Foreigner before rushing at him. Any surviving desks and chairs were smashed as the impromptu battering ram slammed into the Foreigner’s chest and drove clean through the outside wall, causing stonework to go flying into the courtyard between buildings.  
  
Students who were milling about minding their own business screamed and started fleeing from the sudden fight, scattering in all directions to avoid the violence.  
  
Will’s eyes widened as the pair came to a dead stop, the Foreigner digging his heels into the grassy earth like a pair of anchors, followed by Will’s mouth dropping in dead surprise as the momentum from his charge was carried through and transferred into a great and mighty shoulder throw, casting both him and the marble pillar up into the air,  _over the multi-story academy building_.  
  
As wind buffeted against the Canadian, he had a horrifying moment to realize he was flying, sailing over a spiked wrought iron fence, and quickly descending back towards the ground. He dug his hands out of the marble and smashed it aside before ploughing into the ground back first. The pillar went flying off and digging a trench across the field, not landing anywhere near him.  
  
He dug himself out of the ground and saw a figure standing on the top of the school roof; the Foreigner glaring down at him.  
  
Once again, it was becoming painfully clear to Will just how badly he’d fucked up.  
  
The Foreigner ducked for a moment before leaping into the air in a parabolic arc towards Will, leg rearing up, as if to stomp on a pesky ant.  
  
The Canadian rolled to the side, barely avoiding the blow as the Foreigner’s foot drove into the ground, smashing a hole that came up to his knee. Will leapt forward and landed a haymaker on the bearded man’s jaw, sending him flying and tearing up chunks of the earthen field with him.  
  
The Foreigner sailed through the air, almost majestically as clumps of dirt cascaded around him in the moments before he smashed into the newly-repaired equipment storage shed Will had originally crashed into when he arrived.  
  
Will noticed the growing crowd of onlookers flocking to the classroom windows along the school, Kurumu’s bloodied face appearing amongst the sea of students, and even a few on the roof looking down in horror. They were terrified, mixed with cheers of excitement as people cheered on for either one of the combatants.  
  
One group of people caught his attention for a brief moment, several students in long black jackets and uniforms watching the fight. He felt a powerful aura around one of them, a tall lithe man with flowing blonde hair, staring straight at him, appraising him.  
  
Will’s attention was broken as the Foreigner burst out of the shed, barreling right at Will with his arm drawn back with clear and obvious intent to cold-cock him. A repeat of a move he’d been constantly telegraphing rather openly.  
  
He realized the guy was completely untrained, and running purely on raw strength to carry him through the fight. He managed to dodge the plainly telegraphed attack, ducking around the fist, and continuing to bob and weave between the Foreigner’s attempted blows. He countered, moving to the side of the Foreigner's extended arm and clipping him straight in the gut.  
  
To his horror the man didn’t even flinch, ignoring the blow like it was nothing. Pressing on without missing a beat, the Foreigner kept throwing wide, unskilled, brute force punches, with occasional attempts at knees and elbows to the face and groin. Will continued to evade them with some effort, nonetheless wincing as he could  _feel_ the power behind his fist just from the sheer force of the air pressure each produced.  
  
Will kept jabbing every chance he got, aiming for any and every possible opening presented to him. Though even a solid, square kick to the groin didn’t so much as stagger the bastard.  
  
He just  _would not stop._  
  
“I can keep this up all fucking day, man! Just stay down!” Will shouted as he struck the Foreigner in the throat to no effect. He could keep fighting for hours, but he knew one slip on would put him in serious trouble. He had to dodge every hit, and somehow do actual damage to the fucker.  
  
His hopes of a quick fight were long since dashed and he was blustering, hoping it could catch the hypnotized man off guard. Though it was mostly to hide his own mounting fear.  
  
The next stroke thrown by the Foreigner damn near produced a  _sonic boom_ , as did the following attempted strikes.  
  
With the very air around him quaking, Will was starting to realise that up until this point,  _the man hadn’t even been going all-out on him_.  
  
The Canadian ducked under a blow, the fist barely missing the top of his head, and threw everything he had into an uppercut as he launched himself upwards. The blow connected, propelling the Foreigner into the air, and Will leapt off the ground, leaving small craters in the ruined field where his feet had been planted.  
  
He tackled the Foreigner mid-air, managing to latch onto his back, and wrapping his arms around his neck in a headlock. He jabbed the man with a few swift punches to the side and pressed his knee against his back as they fell to the earth together.  
  
With a loud thump that ripped up the grass they crashed back down on, Will on top of the Foreigner, knee pressing him against the ground as his arms tightened around his neck shouted: “Just stay the fuck down and the pain stops!”  
  
But an instant passed before Will was on his back, the smaller man still trapped in a headlock, but nonetheless clearly possessing enough power to throw their collective weight of 180-plus kilograms over with little effort.  
  
Strangely, though, the Foreigner seemed to be finally tapping out, struggling to pull Will’s arms from around his neck as the fire-like aura encompassing him began to slowly, but visibly dim.  
  
For the first time since Will had laid eyes upon him, the Foreigner finally spoke, his voice little more than a low, guttural growl. “Glad to hear it, man!”  
  
Will paused, the words sinking in a moment later, and he blinked. He stared hard at the Foreigner and actually looked at his features, examining him instead of quickly assessing how dangerous he was. The long hair, beard, and light olive complexion struck him as faintly familiar…  
  
“Gucci, mane?” Will muttered as he tilted his head, shoulders sagging somewhat and arms slowly dropping.  
  
The Foreigner stopped struggling immediately, his eyes snapping open and quickly rising up to meet Will’s own gaze. He blinked, and his lips parted in naked surprise.  
  
His voice came out, sounding dumb stuck, and almost…  _hopeful?_  “...William?”  
  
“...  _Joe?!”_  Will exclaimed in naked surprise, releasing his grasp, his arms locking half-open as they began to tremble from some emotion which came tearing its way up from the depths of his heart.  
  
[ _Hope_.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cJtlt8FCYU)  
  
In one fluid motion, Jophiel was on his feet, gazing down at the much larger of the two Canadians, blatantly blindsided before his surprise and confusion gave way to a wide, gleeful smile. “William!” He happily declared, reaching down and grasping Will by one his arms, pulling him up to his feet with relative ease. “You son of a bitch!” He all but shouted while maintaining his grip on Will's hand, voice dripping with joy as he started to dust off his old friend.  
  
“Joe!” Will enthusiastically yelled, tears already rolling down his face as he clapped his hand on the other man’s shoulder, before pulling his friend into a bear hug.  
  
Joe, despite his typical, no-hugs-allowed demeanour, happily wrapped arms around his much taller friend’s waist, now laughing uproariously.  
  
The two old friends remained there for a moment, one crying, one laughing. Amidst the wreckage and carnage of their terrible duel, shattered wood, great gouges in the earth, a mighty marble pillar embedded straight-up in the middle of the track field…  
  
Their audience having fallen into dead silence.  
  
At the sight, the man in a long, black coat with equally long platinum blonde hair stroked his chin appraisingly.  
  
\---  
  
Silence reigned as the two Canadian bros sat beside each other in nice, finely cushioned chairs in the Headmaster’s office. The only sound being the constantly ticking grandfather clock in the corner of the room.  
  
The Headmaster looked between the two, his expression betraying no emotion as they both sat sheepishly, the weight of their actions only having caught up to them after they’d spent a good few minutes hugging it out.  
  
Glowing eyes shifting between the pair, almost like clockwork. The Headmaster continued to say nothing.  
  
They remained in silence, their clothes ruined to the point of being irreparable, covered in dirt and scrapes and looking everywhere but at the Headmaster himself.  
  
A good minute passed by, the leader of the academy’s hands simply resting atop each other on his desk.  
  
Finally, he spoke up.  
  
“I knew you two would fit in after all,” he declared with a wide, extremely amused wolfish grin.


	7. New World, Old Bonds

Stepping out into the cool academy grounds, Will and Jophiel were stunned by how…  _blase_ about that entire affair the Headmaster had been. He hadn’t even really chided them beyond stating that he’d ‘be keeping an eye on them.’  
  
Staring out over the quiet region of the campus the Headmaster’s manor was set in, the two wayward Canadians took a few moments to process what had occurred, then eventually turned to face each other with disbelieving eyes.  
  
“So…” Joe began hesitatingly. “Wasn’t expecting to meet you here.”  
  
“Yeah… I can say the same thing.” Will slowly responded, hands buried in his pockets.  
  
“Especially given how…” Joe shook his head as he pinched his brow. “Jesus fucking… is this what happened to you? You got wrapped up in  _this_ shit, what was it, three months ago now?”  
  
“What do you mean?” Will tilted his head at his friend.  
  
The long-haired brunet’s jaw momentarily dropped as he stared at Will with open shock. “You’d been missing for two fucking months before I got portaled away from home! It made national fucking news, dude!”  
  
“What?!” Will exclaimed as he missed a beat and came to a stop. “The fuck do you mean?!”  
  
Joe, again, looked absolutely dumbstruck. “What the fuck do you mean ‘what do I mean?’ You just fell off the face of the fucking earth three months ago, the last anybody had seen of you was the night before you disappeared! What, did you think nobody fucking noticed!?”  
  
The taller of the two Canadians fell silent as his expression sank. His gaze turned downwards before he turned his head. “I’ve… I’ve tried not to think too hard about that. Not in a while anyway. I just kind of… figured it’d be best not to focus on it.”  
  
His jaw clenched for a moment before falling slack, at which point Jophiel clicked his tongue and shook his head as he shoved his hands into the remnants of his academy-assigned jacket.  
  
“...We’d all just kind of assumed that something had come up with your Aunt or something, and you didn’t have time to come online, y’know,” Joe began, his tone soft and melancholic. “Of course, I was the first to notice the news reports about a week after it happened. That was…”  
  
He shook his head heavily with a sigh.  
  
“Fuck me, man. You, of all people? Quiet, bookish Will? We all knew that you wouldn’t have just fucked off on a surprise two-week bender without warning anyone or some shit like that, y’know…?”  
  
Will’s shoulders slouched as he slowly exhaled and stared off into the distance. The sky was cloudy and grey and the sound of water crashing against the rocky shore could be heard in the distance. In a way, it vaguely reminded him of home, if he closed his eyes and ignored the lack of seagulls filling the air.  
  
Several seconds passed until he responded. “I think I was heading out to hang out with friends that day. Just a simple get together sort of thing, and I texted them I was on my way. I always wondered…” His breathing hitched and his chin quivered. “I wondered what they thought. If my parents ever got in contact with them or vice versa.”  
  
“I just…. I just disappeared off the face of the fucking planet all because I stepped backwards and stumbled through a  _fucking portal!_ ” He shouted as he kicked a nearby rock and sent it flying through several trees, scattering splinters over the quaint graveyard with a terrible crash.  
  
Joe was silent for a few moments himself, observing the awesome mess his previously normal-as-normal-could-be friend just destroyed several  _trees_  with just a single kicked rock, and in the shock of the moment, he found his mouth moving faster than his brain.  
  
“...Not sure if that’s better or worse than how I deliberately poked my portal,” he breathed.  
  
Will breathed hard as he held back the tears, trying to avoid openly crying. “I… I’m not sure.” He eventually forced out in reply. “Sorry, just… just need a minute.” He muttered, taking off his glasses and wiping away the moisture.  
  
The two stood in silence for a time as Will regained his composure, and once it seemed that he had, Joe reiterated his earlier question. “So… this is where you wound up then?”  
  
“No, no, I only ended up here a few days ago,” Will replied as he put his glasses back on and turned around to face his friend. “I’ve been in Monster Girl Quest this entire fucking time. Ever hear of it?”  
  
“...The shota monster girl porn game?” Joe asked hesitantly.  
  
Will nodded in affirmation. “Yeah.”  
  
“Nope never heard of it,” Joe hastily asserted while gazing aside at some gravestones that suddenly seemed rather interesting to him at that moment.  
  
Will let out a bark of laughter and shook his head with a wry smile. “Of course not, no one ever has when asked. Well, in any case, I’ve been there for…. Christ, it really has three or so months.”  
  
“...Well, it’s just a wish-fulfilment porn setting, right? There are worse places you could have popped out in, I imagine,” the shorter Canuck noted as the left sleeve of his jacket broke away completely from the main body of the coat and fell to the ground at his feet.  
  
Will’s gaze rose to meet his friend’s and stared him dead in the eyes. “I’ve been dealing with a genocidal goddess looking over my shoulder the entire time while trying to keep the hero that’s going to save the world alive and not die during the process.”  
  
Joe stared back at Will for a good while, face expressionless, before he eventually responded. “...What the fuck kind of porn are you into, man?” He eventually asked with horror seeping into his voice.  
  
“Yeah, it’s not exactly a fluffy type of setting.” Will dryly responded as his gaze wandered off. “Kind of pretty terrible in fact, but… I had friends and I’d accepted that I was stuck there for the rest of my life. I’d committed to helping him save the world and was willing to give up my ‘humanity’ to do so.” He shot Joe a sidelong glance. “If such a thing even matters in the first place or can’t be defined as something else.”  
  
Jophiel quirked an eyebrow at that. “...Does ‘giving up your humanity’ have anything to do with how you managed to not turn into a pile of gory chunks the first time I punched you back there?” The northerner asked his southern friend appraisingly.  
  
“Yeah, it took a while to get here, and this is only step two. Still not as strong as I should be…  _will be_.” Will looked back over to his friend. “Incidentally, what the fuck happened to you? You install a magical nuclear battery or something into your left hand?” He gestured to his friend’s hand, staring at the Nordic runes which seemed to have been burned into his skin.  
  
Jophiel lifted his hand to gaze upon the runes he’d received when Louise had completed the bonding ritual with him, not a half a month earlier. He had begun to stop really noticing them, himself. “...Something like that, I think,” he started haltingly. “Woke up after a hard night at work, fucking sun-looking green floating ball floating in the middle of my room. Poked the thing with my sword, and sucked through and into another goddamned dimension.”  
  
He raised the hand in question to rub the back of his neck.  
  
“Apparently, I was literally on Alfheim, the world of the Elves from literal Norse mythology. Was summoned by an actual noble mage girl that was descended from… I guess Vikings from Earth that sorta had what happened to you happen to them en masse while on their way to settle Newfoundland.”  
  
He presented his hand to Will, holding the runes at eye level so the taller man could see them clearly.  
  
“These mark me as her ‘guardian familiar,’ and when in danger they seem to empower me. Nobody was able to read them back there, so fuck me if I know what they’re supposed to be. The entire situation was really fucking weird for everyone. Apparently, I was the only human to ever be summoned in their two-thousand years of recorded history.”  
  
Jophiel allowed his hand to fall and hang limply at his side before continuing.  
  
“The magic academy Louise attends, the girl that summoned me, it was attacked by a thief that created a twenty fucking metre tall stone golem that kicked down the walls surrounding the place. That was the first time these things ‘activated,’ and apparently, I was pretty fucking scary when it happened. I have to take people’s word for it because I kind of blacked out when I got into a fight with the actual thief in question.”  
  
“I hope you took it down, otherwise I’d be a little disappointed in you,” Will remarked with a wry smile.  
  
“I blew it the fuck up with a goddamned rocket launcher, boyo!” Joe excitedly declared. “It was fucking awesome! I should have kept that damned thing…”  
  
The taller Canadian laughed in surprise. “Where the fuck did you get a rocket launcher from?”  
  
Joe gave the question a dismissive wave. “I’ll fill you in on the details later. Point is, we caught the thief and I only  _mostly_ died in the process. Great success!” He declared whilst doing his best Borat impression, complete with a double thumbs-up.  
  
Will’s laughter continued as he threw his head back and patted his friend on the shoulder. “'Only mostly,' I’d say that’s a fucking success. How are you handling getting pulled away from that mage chick anyway? You mustn’t have known her long.”  
  
“Huh? Nah man, Louise is here too,” Jophiel declared whilst shaking his head. “We were riding her droog when that fucking… ‘teleport storm,’ or ‘bifrost storm’ opened up on top of us and teleported us over here. I’m pretty sure that she’ll be in her modern technology orientation classes right about now…”  
  
“Oh uh, good for you I guess. Hope you get along with her at least.” Will awkwardly replied as he glanced away. “I… I didn’t have anyone come along with me, so I’ve been kind of dealing with… everything all over again.”  
  
“...That’s rough, buddy,” Joe stated empathetically, not sure what else to say at the moment.  
  
“So uh,” Will scratched the side of his head as his gaze wandered off, “what the fuck is a droog?”  
  
“They’re fucking dire dogs is what they are,” Joe replied with a sigh. “Her’s is named ‘Sleipnir,’ big-ass fucking Kodiak-sized Saint Bernard. Stays in a fenced-off spot near the dorms.”  
  
“Holy shit,” Will replied in dull surprise, looking over the dorm buildings in the distance. “I’ve been petting that big dog every day since I got here. To think we’ve been so close but didn’t know we were here the entire time.” He quietly muttered.  
  
“How the fuck long have you been here, anyway?” Joe asked as he started off back towards the dorms, starting to feel a chill through his ruined jacket and dress shirt and deciding that it was time to replace them. “Louise and I popped up about a week before classes started.”  
  
“I’ve been here for four days, roughly. I got here two days before classes started.” Will answered as he followed beside his friend, his own jacket in relatively better shape given that he wasn’t the one breaking open the walls with his arms. “I wonder if we’re in the same dorm building too…”  
  
“They’re all well within walking distance of each other either way,” Jophiel noted with a bit of a pep in his step. “I mean, I’m on the top floor, so I’ve got a bit of a hike either way, but whatever, I need the exercise.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m not that high up. I’m on like the third floor.” Will replied as he glanced down at his chest, the shirt partially torn open and revealing muscle underneath. “Though on the upside I don’t think I need to exercise that much anymore.”  
  
“I noticed mister Senator fucking Armstrong,” Joe replied with a wide eye. “Seriously, holy shit, that uniform was straining against your chest just like his nice suit does.”  
  
“You think so?” Will sheepishly replied as he smirked at the praise. “It took a bit of work to get this far. I had to suffer through a full body blood transfusion and then weeks of training. Guess it paid off.”  
  
“I just suffered literally blinding pain that knocked me unconscious as the runes very dramatically and painfully seared themselves into the back of my hand magically, myself,” Joe nodded. “Fucking Kirito never had to suffer to get bullshit strong, what the fuck.”  
  
“Kirito?” Will parroted the name as he tried to place it, face scrunched up in thought. “Oh, Sword Art Online… never cared for it. The set up felt boring.” He slowed for a moment as he hummed in thought. “I guess I can watch modern media again, listen to music I haven’t heard in months.”  
  
Joe, inexplicably, groaned heavily at that for some reason. “Fucking hell, a great reminder that I made the mistake of introducing Louise to modern media myself…” he shook his head while bearing a tortured grimace. “I love that girl, but fuck me sideways with a broomstick, she has such shit taste in anime, I swear to god…”  
  
“You love that girl?” Will inquired, peering at his friend with curiosity and leaving the question hanging.  
  
Joe shrugged his shoulders, clearly not thinking much of the question. “Yeah, she’s been pretty nice since I met her. Tiny little bundle of problems aside, she’s been going out of her way to accommodate me and everything. She actually feels pretty guilty about the whole summoning me from my homeworld thing. She was expecting an animal, apparently.”  
  
“Ah, okay.” The taller man nodded in understanding. “That’s not a word I throw around lightly, but it’s good to hear you got a friend with you. Besides,” he smirked as he nudged his friend with his elbow, “she basically got an animal when she summoned you. Just a wild savage man.”  
  
“Fuck you mane,” Joe immediately shot back. “I’m perfectly civilized, you’re the weirdo that’s in denial about loving cock.”  
  
“Hey man, it’s not gay when it’s a feminine penis,” Will replied with a smirk. “Everyone knows that.”  
  
“Degenerates like you belong on a cross,” Joe meme’d right back at his filthy degenerate of a companion as they neared the dorms. “Well, the Headmaster said we could take the rest of the day off to calm down and regather ourselves and shit. So, might as well take the opportunity to catch up, right? I was only in Halkegenia for two weeks. You were in the porn game for a few months. Plenty of time for wacky-ass adventures I’d imagine.”  
  
“You’d think so,” Will chuckled, “but sure, that sounds better than hanging out by myself. You know it’s funny, but all jokes aside I actually got pretty close to someone.” He wistfully sighed. “Kind of a… well a fiancée I guess.”  
  
“You- holy shit, seriously?” Joe asked, stopping dead in his tracks and giving his giant compatriot a shocked look. “Jesus, that isn’t what I was expecting to hear. Good for you man…” he paused, then gave the bookish man a cheeky grin. “So who’s gonna be the groom, then?”  
  
“I am, though she tends to wear the pants more often than not. Ironic, given the fact she’s a lamia.” Will shot back with a grin of his own.  
  
“Aw man, where’s a good, sturdy cross when you need one…?” Joe despaired as his friend’s degeneracy rapidly reached new lows with each passing second. “Not surprising, though. You always were fond of the snake types in MGE. Proud of you, fam.”  
  
“Thank you, papa.” Will replied in amusement, before stopping when he noticed a set of public phones lining the pathway near the bottom of the dorms. He felt his cell phone in his pocket and looked back to his friend. “Hey man, you go on ahead. I got to take care of something first and I’ll catch up with you.” He motioned towards the phones with a title of his head.  
  
“Gucci mane,” Joe called back as he continued up the steps to his penthouse suite.  
  
Will stepped over the archaic relics of communication and pulled out his phone. They didn’t require any coins to operate and were the only way of communicating with the outside world, besides sending a letter.  
  
He opened up his list of contacts and with a hint of hesitation grabbed the phone off the machine and entered his house number. He didn’t know what to expect but hoped that perhaps he was back home. That maybe he’d uncovered some dumb fantasy masquerade, and his parents would pick up the other end of the line.  
  
That sliver of hope dimmed as it kept ringing on and on without response. It took a minute before a robotic voice informed him the line had disconnected. He tried again, thinking that perhaps he misdialed, but got the same result.  
  
With some trepidation he began going down the list of contacts, seeing if his parents’ cell or work numbers would connect. He stood there listening to the dull beeping for minutes on end as every number failed.  
  
He branched out even further, testing his grandparent’s number. They’ve had the same number since the sixties, and his breath hitched when the voice once more informed him the line didn’t connect to anything.  
  
The phone clicked back into place and slowly closed his cell before sliding it into his pocket. He braced himself against the machine and bit back a sob, and shuddered as he once more tried to keep himself under control. His eyes screwed shut as he ignored the urge to uproot the phone and toss it over the distant cliff, instead standing in silence.  
  
Will was alone. He’d been taken from his home twice and the faint hope he had that he could reconnect with them had been smothered. He was alone-!  
  
“Oy, Will!” Joe called out from a higher level. “I forgot to tell you which room is mine, can you hear me down there, man?”  
  
Will looked up at his friend and smiled.   
  
“Yeah, I can hear you, man. I’m on my way up.” He shouted back as he started trudging towards the stairs. “Heh, I guess I’m not so alone after all.” He muttered to himself as he made his way up, and soon rejoined his friend.


	8. Catching Up

“...That is just about the most DeviantArt name I have ever heard in my fucking life,” Jophiel declared from his seat across from Will.  
  
“It’s about the same as your name, Sir Jophiel Focus von Calzone the Second,” Will replied with a cheeky grin as adjusted himself on his cushion seat.   
  
“Firstly,” Jophiel began, pointedly jabbing a finger across the table Will’s way. “Fuck you. Secondly, ‘Pholus’ is actually a real surname from my father’s side of the family, as is ‘Cazon’ on my mother’s side. Don’t you dare try to defend fucking ‘Alicheese Freezerburn the Sixteen-hundredth’ as not sounding even more ridiculously DeviantArty than that.”  
  
Will let out a bark of laughter and shook his head. “You know I don’t know if she’d be annoyed or amused with that nickname… probably both, really. Probably only let you say it once before escalating with pranks.” He mused with a wry grin. “Though I don’t think hot sauce in  _your_ food is much of a prank.”  
  
“Hot sauce?  _Where?_ ” Jophiel demanded as his face whipped around the room excitedly. Like an excited dog. “There are no fucking spices in Halkegenia at all, I haven’t had actual spicy food in a half a fucking month!”  
  
“You poor soul, you have my sympathy. MGQ is like a fairly generic fantasy world, genocidal goddess and man-eating monster girls aside, so New and Old World crops are completely mixed together.” Will explained with a shrug of his shoulder. “I’ve been enjoying chocolate and potatoes alongside rice and pork… not all in the same dish though. That’d taste awful.”  
  
Jophiel, for his part, had gone still and silent for a few moments before he started breathing very heavily. “ _I can get fucking spicy foods again!_ ” He declared like a starving animal as if the thought had only just crossed his mind.  
  
“Congrats, mi amigo.” Will raised an imaginary glass in his friend's honour before dropping his arm. “Hopefully the school store carries some.”  
  
“This deal gets better and better all the time,” the shorter Canadian noted cheerfully. “I pray that it will be altered further in the coming days.”  
  
A beat passed before Jophiel coughed into his hand and returned to the topic at hand.  
  
“So… crazy journey you’ve had, man,” he started. “I’d say that it’s a shame I couldn’t be there to have helped you, but then again, I wouldn’t exactly be thrilled to have that ‘Granberia’ hounding me like you think she would.”  
  
Will chuckled. “Yeah, she’d be pretty interested in seeing what you could do. You probably got the same raw power as her, and not many men can say that…” His face scrunched up in thought for a moment. “In fact, I don’t think any can, not yet anyway.”  
  
“Mm…” Jophiel hummed while rubbing his chin appraisingly. “She still sounds better than that ‘Alma Elma’ at any rate. Like, holy shit. You were planning on killing that psycho at some point, right?”  
  
“Yes I want to, but I haven’t informed anyone about that fact.” Will grimaced, the corners of his mouth turning downwards in disgust. “She’s a useful combatant and useful against Ilias. Plus, even if I was as strong as her, she’s a martial arts expert and could break me in two with her bare fucking hands.”  
  
“Sounds like that world is in need of a good Kratos to run through and clear some of the bad apples out before they spoil the lot,” Jophiel declared with a grimace of his own. “But, at any rate… actually, I think that about covers it, yeah?”  
  
“I think so,” Will nodded as he once more shifted on his cushion. “You bring anything else over with you alongside the mage chick and giant woofer?”  
  
“Like what?” Jophiel asked, quirking an eyebrow at his fellow glorious red socialist.  
  
“Like you mentioned having a rocket launcher and pistol. What the fuck happened to them? They get left behind?” Will clarified his question and gestured for Joe to continue speaking.  
  
“Oh, fuck, my 1911? I’ve got it right here,” Jophiel began as he reached back and grabbed his pistol from under the pillow resting atop his futon, holding the magnificent piece of American engineering aloft for his fellow Canadian to see.  
  
The taller of the two warily eyed the weapon as he leaned back. “They let you bring a gun onto campus?”  
  
The shorter of the two blinked, then looked aside at the .45 still gripped in his hand. “...Huh. I guess they did. The Headmaster must have seen it holstered on my hip when we first arrived here… why the fuck didn’t he say anything?”  
  
“… I have no fucking idea. He must really not give a fuck.” Will remarked in bemusement. “Weird, he seemed pretty serious and attentive when I spoke to him before.” He quietly muttered.  
  
“...He’s rapidly starting to feel more and more negligent as time goes by,” Jophiel noted with a shrug as he turned back to return the pistol to its resting place, halting as his eyes fell upon the one bag he’d brought with him when he and Louise left the academy.  
  
After a beat, he reached for it. Pulling it over to the table and unzipping it without saying anything. Quickly enough, he produced what would have been a massive sword… had it not clearly been broken into multiple pieces.  
  
Jophiel looked over the ornate two-handed grip in his hands, turning it over and around with a faintly melancholic look on his face. “And this is the talking sword I mentioned… or was, I guess. Didn’t get to talk much to him before he broke fighting those smaller golems.”  
  
Will frowned slightly as he looked over the sword. It was ludicrously ornate, the handle looking like it was coated in ivory or pearl. “I’m sorry to hear that, hopefully, he can be repaired.”  
  
Jophiel shrugged. “Well, I’m honestly not sure if it’s a negative or a positive that he broke. He kinda  _was_  an openly bloodthirsty psychopath and all that… but yeah. Not even sure if repairing the blade would bring him back. Spirit are bound to the blade to make it all magical and shit, so logically I’d assume that the spirit would have leaked out and flown off into the ether, or whatever.”  
  
He returned the pieces of the blade to the bag and pushed it back where it had been resting.  
  
“That all being said, I think we’ve exhausted pretty much everything about what we were doing prior to arriving here. So…” Jophiel linked his fingers together and rested his hands atop the surface of the table the two were seated at. “Time to address the elephant in the room, I suppose. Why were you attacking Kurumu back there?” He pointedly asked.  
  
“I’m guessing Kurumu was the blue-haired girl, correct?” Will inquired as he sat up straighter and his expression turned neutral.  
  
“Yes, Kurumu is that tiny little girl that’s been nothing but an absolute sweetheart to me since I met her, who I witnessed fly into a locker after you decked her in the face hard enough to probably break her nose,” Jophiel drawled in a level tone. “Followed by openly threatening her with further bodily harm. I’d like to think that you probably had a good reason for that, but from where I’m standing… I’m sure you’ll understand that you looked significantly worse than many of those assholes I told you about that tried to bully my friends back in high school.”  
  
“You’re goddamn right I had a good reason for punching her in the face.” Will immediately declared, and jabbed his finger on the table. “I don’t know what type of monster she is, but she’s capable of hypnosis and tried to mind control me. All those guys that I was throwing around? They were her  _fucking thralls_.” He exclaimed with a hint of a snarl.  
  
“I only got involved in the first place because I heard her threatening to destroy my friend’s entire social life out of petty jealousy. I don’t know how she’s been acting around you, but in about a minute she acted like any other fucking monster girl and it made my blood boil.” His fist clenched and unclenched, and he exhaled as he forced himself to stay calm.  
  
Jophiel was quiet, his jaw growing tight as he took in his friend’s words and felt his entire body tense up.  
  
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before responding.  
  
“The brunette in the oversized jacket… is that the friend you’re talking about?”  
  
“Yeah,” Will nodded, “Moka. She’s a sweet girl, lots of insecurities and baggage. The last person to start shit, but so far it seems to find its way to her.”  
  
“...Was all of this said aloud?” Jophiel asked, clearly making a point to approach the entire debacle in a measured manner. “With witnesses?”  
  
“She said it out loud, so plenty of other people should have heard it.” Will pointed to his ear. “I’m a bit of a poor judge though, given I’ve got super hearing.”  
  
Closing his eyes and taking another deep breath, Jophiel nodded once. “...Okay then. I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t be dumb enough to try telling such an easily disprovable lie.” Opening his eyes, he affixed Will with a serious look. “How could you tell that she tried to mind control you?”  
  
“She stared me dead in the eye and my mind went blank for a moment. I’ve been hypnotized before so I knew how to shake it off, but clearly, her thralls weren’t able to.” Will paused as he scratched his chin. “It’s a bit tougher to describe if you can’t notice auras and subtle changes involved with shit like that.”  
  
“...I never felt anything like that while interacting with her,” Jophiel began, contemplatively rubbing his chin. “And I don’t have any lost time or anything like that… didn’t make eye contact with her before I went to confront you either. I don’t think she ever tried anything on me, or I’d probably still be under her control.”  
  
“Did she ever press herself against you and stare intently into your eyes for several full seconds?” Will asked.   
  
“...Well, she grabs my arm and is really touchy and shit in general, but that’s just what girls are like when they’re friends with someone,” Jophiel noted. “I can’t really recall any specific instances of her making a point to try holding eye contact with me.”  
  
“Really? Nothing at all?” Will pressed in disbelief. “I know how you are with chicks, so it might have been something you didn’t think about. Did she ever ask you what you thought about her eyes? Ask to see what colour your eyes were? Say she had something-”  
  
“No,” Jophiel cut him off through lidded eyes. “Will, I’m a baseline fucking human when the runes aren’t active, and even then those only augment my physical abilities. If she’d ever tried to hypnotize me, I’d have no more defences against it than you would have when you started your own journey.”  
  
“Well that’s the thing,” Will leaned toward, “she remarked that foreigners were mentally stronger than Japanese monsters, and you’re the only other foreign guy I’ve seen here.” He pressed on the issue, clearly not believing that the cunt hadn’t tried to hypnotize his friend. He knew girls were Joe’s blind spot and was concerned he’d allowed himself to get wrapped around Kurumu’s finger.  
  
Jophiel just gave Will a long, heavily lidded stare in reply, clearly finding the argument not even worth dignifying with a counter.  
  
Seeing the lack of response Will just sighed and shook his head as he threw his hands up. “Fine, never mind, forget about it. Anything else you want to ask about?”  
  
After a beat, Jophiel shook his head with a sigh before continuing on. “Whatever. I believe you about everything you said, you’re just pressing on a point that clearly holds no water. I’m gonna confront her about this all either way.”  
  
“Well, that’s something at least,” Will remarked as he looked away and idly scratched the side of his head. “So uh… you ever fuck that dark-skinned fire mage you mentioned or what?” He awkwardly segwayed into another topic.  
  
After a beat, Jophiel’s face plummeted into the surface of the table and remained there as he let out a long-suffering sigh.  
  
It was going to be a long night.  
  
\---  
  
“...Louise, seriously, what’s wrong?” Jophiel pressed the tiny blonde the next morning, who was, well…  
  
The fledgeling mage gave him a  _very_  sour look, eyes being little more than slits before she started marching off towards the main academy building with a loud, dramatic huff and a frustrated declaration of “Barbarian...!” Leaving himself and Will just standing there, the shorter of the two feeling utterly bewildered.  
  
“What the fuck?” He asked nobody in particular once she was out of earshot. She’d been seemingly making a point to give him and Will both really dirty looks and ignore his questions since he knocked on her door that morning.  
  
“Well, it looks like you’ll be joining Sleipnir in the doghouse for the foreseeable future.” Will dryly remarked as he glanced between his friend and the tiny strawberry blonde mage.  
  
“What did I do?” Jophiel asked in earnest bewilderment, not understanding why she was so inexplicably mad.  
  
“Well, you went through about two walls and sent me through a pillar and then over the school building,” Will remarked as he looked to the hastily patched up hole in the side of the school and deep gouge carved into the courtyard when Joe dug his heels in.  
  
“Wha-” then, the shorter Canuck stopped and put two-and-two together. “...Dozens of witnesses to neither of us even making an  _attempt_ at diplomacy when at least one of us is supposed to be a responsible noble before destroying a significant amount of school property utterly needlessly.”  
  
“Bingo Bango got it in one go… kind of.” Will deadpanned as the corners of his mouth quirked upwards. The fight was brutal but he did find it exciting that he could do shit like that.  
  
Jophiel clicked his tongue, watching as in the distance, his cute little blonde partner had a smaller, brunette girl wearing a long cloak and big cartoonish witch hat charge at and leap onto her with a cheerful declaration of “Louise-chan!”  
  
“Sendou!” Louise declared in an irritated, chiding tone, clearly not approving of all the tomfoolery afoot. “That is no way for a young lady to behave, least of all in public! You must hold yourself to a higher standard to those below your station and set an example for those of a more…”  
  
She turned back to gave Jophiel and Will another judging look.  
  
“ _Orcish_  mindset.”  
  
The smaller girl dutifully snapped to attention and saluted rather adorably at her taller peer before falling into step beside Louise, smiling brilliantly up at the blonde as she led the shorter Sendou off to class.  
  
The sight of Louise getting along with another student, a young witch by the looks of it made Jophiel happy, but still... “Welp. She’s gonna be fucking pissed at me for a while.”  
  
“Definitely.” Will nodded in agreement before his gaze turned towards the crowd as he caught the scent of another human.  
  
“Booker-senpai!” Tsukune called as he waved and approached his upperclassman friend, Moka in tow alongside him. The pair looked concerned and quickly approached the tall Canadian.  
  
However, they stopped dead in their tracks, nearly tripping over themselves when they spotted Joe standing beside him.  
  
“Hey guys,” Will smiled and waved back, “sorry about yesterday. I kind of meant to check in with you two, but I got the day off and spent it catching up with my old friend Joe.” He patted his friend’s shoulder. “Joe, this is Tsukune and Moka.” He pointed to the teen and vampire respectively.  
  
“‘Sup,” Jophiel said, giving the pair a chin-point as his hands were still buried in his jacket pockets and he didn’t feel the desire to withdraw them for a proper wave.  
  
Tsukune flinched as his smile faltered and he stepped away from the Canadians. “Uh, h-hi, Joe.” He nervously responded. “So Booker-senpai, glad to see you’re doing fine.”  
  
“Yeah! You went through a pillar!” Moka declared from her hiding place behind Tsukune. “I was so worried for you!”  
  
Will spread his arms out, showing off his new, intact school uniform which strained against his rippling, Armstrong-esque physique. “Nah, I’m fine. I think I got some minor bruises if that from the entire affair. Nothing to worry about.”  
  
“Oh, that’s good,” Moka replied as her momentarily gaze shifted to Joe. Her nose twitched subtly and she blushed, then winced as he returned her stare before she buried her face into Tsukune’s shoulder.  
  
“Well Booker-senpai it was, uh,” Tsukune shot an anxious glance to Joe, “n-nice to see you in good shape, but Moka and I need to go to class, so bye!” The teen and vampire abruptly turned as one and didn’t quite run away, but quickly disappeared into the crowd of students.  
  
“...They seem pretty jumpy,” Jophiel idly noted to his companion as he lazily stood in place.  
  
“They’re pretty weak, so just about anything makes them nervous.” Will quietly remarked as he watched his younger friends retreat into the school. “Getting bodied through a wall isn’t something either of them would likely survive.”  
  
“Hm. She seemed pretty brave to try putting herself between us yesterday though,” Jophiel remarked as the two began making their way to the main academy building.  
  
“That she was. She’s got a good head on her shoulders… well, heart in the right place I think.” Will shrugged his shoulders before stuffing his hands into his pockets. “So,” he looked over to his friend, “you notice that look Moka gave you or are you used to girls suddenly blushing whenever they stare your way?”  
  
Jophiel blinked, then turned to regard Will with a queer gaze. “...Should I  _not_  be?” He asked, looking confused.  
  
Will sighed deeply. “Joe, you’re lucky I’m here to help you notice this shit Mister Harem Protagonist. Moka caught your scent, and to monsters, it seems to be a cross between a delicious steak dinner and possible aphrodisiac. Tough to tell, lots of monsters are horngry most of the time.”  
  
“So that’s a look she’d give to any random asshole, got it,” Joe noted with a dismissive nod.  
  
“Yes exactly, but only in this specific case,” Will replied with a chuckle. “Anyways, we should probably get to class. Being late after destroying a room is like insult to injury-”  
  
“Hey,” an unfamiliar, high voice called out to the pair from ahead.  
  
They looked up to find a tiny redhead with her long hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing a black sleeveless outfit with a bo staff slung across her shoulders rather lazily.  
  
“Booker and Pholus, right?” The girl asked the pair, giving them, especially Jophiel, an appraising look with her golden eyes.  
  
“Yeah?” Will slowly took his hands out of his pockets, slightly on guard. She was calm and relaxed, so he figured she probably wasn’t about to attack them. “And you are?”  
  
“Deshiko Deshi, Public Safety Commission,” she replied matter-of-factly. “We’re basically the official student police on campus if you’re unaware.”  
  
Jophiel gave the girl an appraising look of his own before interjecting. “Okay, is there anything you need, ma’am?”  
  
“Yeah, the boss wants to have a word with you two.” She smirked at the pair before turning and nodding in the direction of a building separate from the main academy. “So, if you’d kindly follow me?”  
  
Without waiting for a response, she about-faced and started making her way towards the path that was adorned with a series of traditional Japanese arches, clearly expecting the pair to follow without raising a fuss.  
  
The two Canucks shared a look, Will’s a bit more concerned than Jophiel’s, before the shorter of the pair shrugged and fell into step behind the short girl.  
  
Will wondered if they were in trouble over the damage they caused during the fight and was prepared to mention they’d already been “reprimanded” by the Headmaster.  
  
More cautiously than his companion, he nevertheless set off after the girl himself, simply hoping that nothing too serious would come of this new ordeal.


	9. Peace Through Strength

“Ah, mister Pholus, mister Booker, a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” a lithe, platinum blond-haired man bearing an almost predatory aura and some rather funny-looking dot eyebrows and pointed, elfin ears greeted Jophiel and Will as they stepped into the office of the Public Safety Commission captain. “Captain Kuyo, head of the Public Safety Commission.” He introduced himself as he rose from his large, handsome wood desk.  
  
Joe gave the man a quick once-over. He was dressed in a striking black long coat worn over a simple uniform bearing a single white stripe across the chest. Otherwise, he was… of average height for a Japanese man, he’d wager. Nothing else was really noteworthy about him as far as the familiar could tell.  
  
Before Will even entered the man’s office he could feel his presence through the door. It wasn’t a roaring bonfire like Joe was yesterday, but it was there, burning beneath the surface, not quite hidden but contained at the moment. It vaguely reminded him of a kitsune with far too many tails.  
  
Understandably that made him somewhat nervous, but he hid his anxiety under a stoic expression and politely nodded his head towards the man. Will also recognized him as the man who was watching the fight between him and Joe the previous day. Which did nothing to alleviate his concerns that they were in deep shit for the fight.  
  
“The pleasure is ours, Captain Kuyo,” Joe replied in an almost regal tone with a well-practised bow, of all things. “How may we be of service this day?”  
  
The other Canadian gave his friend a brief look of surprise at the gesture. He supposed Joe really had been spending far too much time around stuffy nobility.  
  
Kuyo gave the shorter of the two Canadians an appraising look, a slight smirk eventually finding its way on his face. “That remains to be seen,” he noted as he stepped around his desk and towards the pair standing before him. “You two are getting along quite well, all things considered… though, I suppose it is only natural for the strong to take up arms together, is it not?”  
  
Joe regarded the man for a few moments before nodding. “That is the way of the world. The strong make allies with each other to form a bulwark against the encroaching barbarians.”  
  
Kuyo’s grin widened. “ _Exactly_. Barbarians represent chaos, and we here at the Public Safety Commission stand for one thing, mutually work together for one specific goal…”  
  
He lifted and dropped a balled hand into his open palm dramatically, a motion which generated a louder thump than the two had been expecting, damn near causing a shockwave along with it.  
  
“ _Order_ ,” Kuyo said, his tone firm and unbending. “Strength begets discipline, and discipline begets order. That is the way of the world, of all truly successful civilizations. Any great ruler knows that strength is required to maintain control of chaos, that barbarians cannot be allowed to run wild…”  
  
He gave the pair a hard look.  
  
“The strength you two displayed out there… that raw,  _magnificent_ power… is exactly what we need to keep this school under control, to prevent barbarians such as the persistent…  _miscreant_  Booker here  _dealt with_  earlier from running wild.”  
  
The blond turned to regard Booker directly.  
  
“You have my thanks for preventing that  _animal_ from disrupting the order we work so hard to maintain. Clearly, we need to increase patrols in the areas he frequented. That sort of behaviour from the likes of his kind simply cannot be tolerated.”  
  
In spite of his initial trepidation, Will found himself shallowly nodding along with the blond’s spiel. The man was a tad over dramatic, but the core message struck a chord with the Canadian.  
  
 _Fucking finally!_  He thought to himself.  _Someone actually doing something to keep assholes in line and everyone else safe!_  
  
It reframed the incident with Saizou. Will realized that was not the result of lawless chaos and anarchy, but a delinquent stepping out of line. If a member of the Public Safety Committee was there, they likely would have intervened in his place.  
  
“I will admit I was concerned about how this school was being run, however I believe those doubts are quickly being cast aside.” Booker politely replied with a faint smile spreading across his face, and nodded towards Kuyo. “I am interested in hearing more about your organization.”  
  
Kuyo’s smile widened at the monster-blooded man’s declaration. “ _Splendid_ ,” he said. “I knew that you’d understand.”  
  
Turning to face the window overlooking the school courtyard, the captain stepped over to it and overlooked the grounds.  
  
“As you have no doubt gathered, our forces are understaffed as of late, a consequence of many of our previous officers graduating last school year… we dearly require more men to fill the ranks of our lines, and I believe that the two of you more than quality for the role of keepers of the order. You would be assigned a patrol route, uniforms, of course, and would be expected to intervene at any signs of  _disorder_  on our campus grounds. It is a simple, but essential duty. One which has been rather disgracefully neglected up to this point.”  
  
He turned on his heel, his crisp blank coat billowing around him as he shifted his focus back on Jophiel and Will.  
  
“So… what say you? Will you stand tall against the barbarians at the gate seeking to disrupt our ordered society at every turn? Are you strong enough to stand tall amongst the very best this school has to offer?”  
  
 _Alright, kind of flirting with fascism a little bit, but I feel ya_. Will privately mused, finding the man quite dramatic but passionate about the issue. .  
  
Kuyo’s smile widened even further, becoming a mite predatory.  
  
“ _I_  believe you can, if that means anything to such distinguished warriors such as yourselves.”  
  
“That is certainly high praise.” Will hummed in thought, his own smile widening. “I find myself drawn to this offer. I believe that I’d be interested in joining the Public Safety Committee.”  
  
Jophiel was quietly contemplating everything he was hearing, hand on his bearded chin, he pondered…  
  
...If Will thought it was a good idea, and on top of that, he was sure that Louise would approve of him signing on with what amounted to something resembling a knightly order keeping the peace…  
  
“...It would be my honour to take on the duty of maintaining order on these grounds,” Jophiel nodded at Kuyo.  
  
The captain’s smile widened ever more at that. “ _Good, good._ ” He all but cooed in a rather pleased tone. “You will make fine civil servants, of this, I am certain,” Kuyo nodded at the pair. “I shall have the necessary paperwork filled out for you two, as while it would hardly do to press the both of you into service immediately, having such well-known warriors among our ranks will surely do much to discourage the rabble from spreading chaos.”  
  
He returned to his desk, withdrew two sheets of paper from it, and set them before the pair of Canadians.  
  
“Simply sign here, and by midday tomorrow, you will both be counted among the ranks of the Public Safety Commission, official arbiters of order. Your uniforms should also be prepared by then.”  
  
Jophiel nodded, took the pen the blond offered them, and signed his name without missing a beat. Based on what Will had told him earlier, and what he’d just heard, this school probably needed some discipline to keep the lunatics in line for the sake of the general populace.  
  
“I do hope we receive a handbook of some sort. It wouldn’t do to be enforcing rules we don’t fully know.” Will remarked as he grabbed the pen and signed his name down onto the document.  
  
Kuyo nodded once firmly. “But of course. Officer Deshi will provide you both with all the resources you will require to maintain order over the course of the school year. Should you require anything in particular to fulfill your obligations to the academy, do not hesitate to seek her out for aid. She is, of course, among my most able and reliable officers.”  
  
He stared down at the papers for a few moments, letting out a satisfied breath at the sight.  
  
“Words cannot express how contented I am that we came to this agreement and that I can count you both among my allies. Individuals willing to rise up from the common rabble are so rare in this day and age…” He nodded at the pair. “Well then, Enforcer Pholus, Enforcer Booker. You two are dismissed for the day. Officer Deshi will find you both around lunch period tomorrow, barring any unforeseen circumstances complicating matters, at least. I am looking forward to working with you two to maintain order.”  
  
He offered his hand to Jophiel and Booker. They both gave him a firm handshake in response.  
  
“Incidentally, Enforcer Pholus…” Kuyo began, giving Jophiel an appraising look. “I cannot overstate how impressed I am with your disguise. I know that it cannot be the case from what I saw yesterday, but standing here before me right now… you are indistinguishable from a common human. It is honestly rather remarkable how you are keeping your true power hidden as you are.”  
  
Jophiel damn near choked at that, but managed to only nod once in response. “I am merely adhering to the rules all students are expected to, Sir.”  
  
Kuyo chucked once at that. “So orderly…” He shifted his gaze to Will. “It is, however, wise to project power and authority while working to maintain order. Keep as you have, Enforcer Booker. A constant reminder of your strength will surely do much to keep many of the more cowardly ne'er do wells in line with no appreciable effort on your part at all.”  
  
“Of course, Sir, after yesterday’s…  _incident_ , I very much doubt anyone would cause any trouble while Jophiel and myself are around.” Will replied as he motioned towards his friend.  
  
“Indeed,” Kuyo nodded. “Well, that should be all for today. Make sure you are both well-rested for tomorrow. We shall all surely have our hands full ensuring this academy does not descend into chaos.”  
  
He nodded at the pair before returning to his seat.  
  
“Dismissed, Enforcers.”  
  
Jophiel crisply saluted Kuyo before about-facing and heading for the hallway door, Will following close behind him.  
  
The heavy office door closed shut behind them, and taking a moment to sigh in relief over how that encounter went so much better than they could have hoped, they caught sight of Deshiko Deshi still leaning on the wall where she’d set herself after leading them to the office.  
  
She idly smiled at the pair before kicking herself off the wall and began to saunter down the hallway away from them. “Looking forward to working with you two,” she chuckled. “I knew you’d both fit right in.”  
  
At that, the tiny redhead departed, leaving the pair alone.  
  
Jophiel craned his neck around to face Will.  
  
Will craned his neck around to face Jophiel.  
  
The pair gazed at each other. They'd expected to be absolutely reamed out for their fight, not to become...  
  
“Super Troopers?” Jophiel asked.  
  
“Super Troopers,” Will confirmed.  
  
“We’re gonna be the best protectors of the people ever,” Jophiel declared as the pair cheerfully fist-bumped and made their way back to the main academy building with a jaunty spring in their step, equally proud of their decision to keep order in the school and protect their fellow students.


	10. The Path is Open

Will adjusted his undersized greatcoat as he made his rounds around the school by himself. The black long coat was too small for his large frame and strained against his broad shoulders and muscular physique. He knew the Public Safety Commission having one in his size was too good to be true, but he was thankful the weather inside the academy was mild enough that he didn’t start overheating.  
  
“Such a mundane problem.” The tall Canadian mused to himself as he sighed with resignation, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets after futilely trying to make it more comfortable. “Weird to deal with simple shit like that.”  
  
He hadn’t run into trouble yet during his patrol and found himself almost casually strolling around the academy. He was hopeful that perhaps people like Saizou were the exception and that most students kept to themselves. If was certainly feeling that way as he made his way over to the track field as part of his routine.  
  
The deep gouges he and Joe had carved into the grass had already been hastily filled in, but the marble pillar had yet to be removed. It was buried deep into the ground and gave the otherwise normal field a Greco-Roman vibe to it like it was a ruin from an old structure long since destroyed.  
  
 _I didn’t realize Joe and I are such good landscapers. The school should be paying us for decoration_. He thought to himself in amusement.  
  
There was a gym class out and running laps, and as he approached they tensed and kept their faces turned forward as they ran with determination. Will watched them go for a minute, utterly bored with his patrol, his stoic face impassively surveying the field.  
  
A familiar scent reached his nose, pulling him from his trance, and he turned his head to the sight of the red-headed gym teacher in a white tracksuit approaching him, lazily waving.  
  
“Booker, was it? How have you been holding up?” The gym teacher asked with concern as he neared. “You were in pretty rough shape a week ago.”  
  
Will couldn’t remember the man’s name, but offered a polite smile and inclined his head towards him. “I’ve been better, I suppose. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, so I’ll survive.”  
  
“Sheesh, are you sure you’re fine? I hear a student talking like that it sends up red flags, you know.” He rubbed the back of his head.  
  
The Canadian found the reaction and misunderstanding somewhat amusing and chuckled. “Yeah, about as fine as I can be, considering the circumstances. I actually ran into a friend, so at least I’m not dealing with shit alone.” He replied with a shrug, causing his jacket to strain against his muscles.  
  
The gym teacher paused and looked out onto the field, his gaze settling on the ruined sports equipment shack. “Was it that guy you threw down with? I didn’t see the fight, but I heard about how it ended.”  
  
“Oh, yeah? What did you hear?” Will inquired, curious how the fight appeared to an outside observer.  
  
“That it was pretty brutal but bloodless. You two broke a pillar and then threw it over the school.” The gym teacher gestured towards the new field decoration. “That’s pretty impressive.”  
  
“I didn’t really intend to break that pillar, but it took that hit worse than I did, so no real complaints.” He remarked as he idly scratched the side of his head. “Sorry about the sports shed though. It was collateral damage.”  
  
The man winched but shook his head. “It’s unfortunate, but most of the equipment survived relatively intact. Dodgeball with a slightly deflated ball just gives more encouragement to dodge. It leaves a bigger welt.”  
  
“Wonderful, that’ll teach ‘em,” Will replied with a faint smirk. “They’ll learn the five Ds; dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge.”  
  
“They’ll have to if they want to pass.” The gym teacher responded with a smirk of his own. “I also heard you were pretty good at hand to hand against that other guy. He barely landed a hit on you. You train or something?”  
  
Will thought back to the fight and supposed the guy was right but left unsaid was that Will barely even hurt Joe while every hit he did land hurt like fucking hell. “Yeah, got a bit of fighting experience and a good teacher.”  
  
“No kidding. If you weren’t in the Public Safety Commission I’d tell you to sign up for the Karate Club. Hell, you could probably teach them a thing or two.” The man commented with approval.  
  
“Eh, maybe, but I feel like I can actually do something in the PSC. Get to deal with guys like Saizou before they can become a problem.” He replied with a faint shrug.  
  
“Also heard about that. You put the bastard in the hospital with a single hit.” The gym teacher let out a whistle. “That’s damn impressive.”  
  
It was less so considering he had used a tombstone and got the drop on the guy, but a win was a win he supposed.  
  
“Thanks, but to go back to your earlier question, yeah that little fight was with my friend. We didn’t recognize each other at first and it was a bit of a misunderstanding, but we cleared the air.” He explained, half turning towards the field before remembering something. “Oh right, I never thanked you for checking on me when I first arrived here. So, thanks.” He pulled a hand out of his pocket and clapped the man on the shoulder.  
  
The gym teacher smiled with full force, and returned the gesture, clapping the Canadian on his shoulder. “It’s all part of being a teacher. I might seem harsh when I’m barking orders during class, but I truly care about the wellbeing of my students.”  
  
Will found himself smiling, thankful that there were teachers at the academy that cared. That it wasn’t just a harsh dog eat dog world were might made right…. At least not entirely. The faculty wasn’t, and that was good.  
  
“That’s fantastic to hear,” Will replied before laughing. “I feel bad now since I kind of forgot your name.”  
  
The gym teacher waved off the apology and shook his head. “You were in shock, it’s understandable that you don’t remember it.” He stuck out his hand. “Okuto Kotsubo.”  
  
The Canadian firmly grabbed the hand, “William Booker.”  
  
“Hey now, I at least remembered your family name.” Okuto joked with a carefree air, letting out his own bark of laughter.  
  
“That you did, and it’s much appreciated,” Will replied nodded towards the redhead, and sticking his hands back into his pocket. “I’d love to stay and chat some more, but I’ve got to check in with my handler on time.”  
  
“You get going then. I’ve got to make sure this lot of students don’t think they can slack off just because I’m not watching them.” Okuto jerked his thumb in the direction of the track field, the students warily watching the exchange as they ran laps.  
  
“I’ll see you around,” Will remarked as he started off, continuing along his patrol. He hoped all the other teachers were as considerate as Okuto was.  
  
\---  
  
Meanwhile, Jophiel had been on his own patrol. Strolling on past the Art room which he was rapidly becoming quite familiar with, to his mild surprise, a familiar head of blue hair turned the corner up ahead, and Kurumu was approaching… probably unintentionally, given the way her eyes were locked on the floor at her feet and her brows were knit together.  
  
The Canadian stopped, and hands in his pockets, allowed her to approach, expecting her to stop at some point.  
  
Then, with no small amount of amusement, said nothing as it quickly became apparent that she hadn’t noticed him and was about to walk right into his chest.  
  
Indeed, just as the prophecies foretold, she walked headlong into him and let out a surprised shriek as she regained her footing.  
  
He knew that he was supposed to be mad at her, but that was still funny.  
  
An instant passed before the girl’s five-foot gaze rose from his chest to his face, and her expression lit up momentarily. “Jophiel-” and promptly fell again the moment she noticed how unamused he looked. “U-um…”  
  
“I’m given to understand that you’ve been mind-controlling men around the school,” Jophiel immediately cut to the chase, at least understanding that now wasn’t the time to press for levity. “And that William hit you in self-defence when you tried to mind-control  _him_.”  
  
The pint-sized bluenette flinched away, drawing her hands up to her front in what he recognized as a gesture to make oneself look smaller, seemingly more at his tone than his accusations. Right then, as she looked up at him with her large, violet doe eyes, he was reminded that she was the same damned height as Louise, and looked utterly helpless before him considering her intimidated and almost  _hurt_  body language combined with her stature.  
  
Jophiel fought back the urge to cringe, internally cursing his weakness towards girls in general. Now was not the time to go soft on her, especially given that he was an officer of the PSC and it was his  _duty_  to ensure that the peace was kept on school grounds from there on out…  
  
...And the look she was giving him was  _really_  making him feel like the  _perfect asshole_.  
  
He sighed. “...Are you going to give me your side of the story, or not?” He added as if he’d been expecting her to defend herself in the first place.  
  
She seemed a little surprised, eyes widening a touch and some of the tension leaving her body. Averting her gaze, she eventually replied. “I’m sorry…” She weakly said. “I didn’t want you to get hurt. I didn’t think you’d get involved in the first place…”  
  
That was barely an apology and definitely wasn’t an explanation. Standing up straighter, some of the steel returned to his voice as he responded. “Explain yourself, Kuruno-” she was  _visibly_  hurt to his bewilderment and concern, “-a weak apology isn’t going to cut it after what happened back there.”  
  
Kurumu looked to be on the verge of tears, bizarrely and surprisingly. What the fuck brought on such an extreme emotional response like that? He wasn’t even being forceful or mean about questioning her!  
  
After a few moments of quiet, she eventually managed to squeak out a response. “M-mom taught me that’s what succubi are supposed to do. Gather a harem and put all the other girls in their place… she was always so insistent that I make sure everyone knows how strong I am, said it was better if I did it this way, that I wouldn’t get hurt if I listened to her…” She was already starting to choke up. “I-I’m sorry, I was just… I didn’t think…”  
  
...Her  _mother_  instructed her to do this? Her  _mother_  led her to believe this sort of behaviour was okay, was what she  _should_  be doing?  
  
Kurumu looked like she was barely keeping it together, and Jophiel felt anger swelling in his chest. Not at the misled girl before him, but at her awful parent that taught her to do wrong. Taught her to act in a way that would, at best, lead to even worse behaviour later in life, breed delinquency and put her on the wrong side of law and order…  
  
Hell, he was pretty sure that he already had the right to arrest her in the name of the PSC for the chaos her actions had generated, but…  
  
...He knew what it was like, to have such a dangerously neglectful, even arguably  _malicious_  parent.  
  
If even  _he_  could reform himself after the sort of shit  _he_  had pulled in high school back in Canada…  
  
“You understand what you did wrong, right?” Jophiel asked the girl plainly.  
  
After a few seconds, eyes still averted, she nodded.  
  
“You regret your actions, and what they caused?” He pressed.  
  
She nodded again, looking more and more distressed with each word.  
  
“...Can I trust you to ignore what your mother taught you from now on, that you’ll behave and treat others with respect?” He questioned.  
  
The rising despair in her expression faded and became surprised. Now making eye contact with him again, she nodded. “I-I don’t want anything like that to happen again because of me… I really don’t want something like that to happen to you again… I’m sorry…” She managed in reply, voice hoarse.  
  
Jophiel’s lips had formed a thin line, and he took a deep breath before continuing. “...Then I’ll let you off the hook, this one time. Everyone deserves a second chance.”  
  
Sorrow had  _rapidly_  made way for open hope, the faintest beginnings of a smile forming on the corners of her lips. “Does… does that mean you…” she fidgeted in place uncomfortably. “Forgive…” She seemed to be having trouble bringing herself to finish that question.  
  
He understood what she was asking well enough, though, and… perhaps just this once. “I forgive you,” he began, and thinking back to how nice she’d been to him since they’d met… maybe if she didn’t feel shunned by him, he’d even manage to be a good influence on her. “Kurumu,” he finished, allowing his voice to lose its professional sterility and shift back to the warmer, gentler tone he’d been using previously to speak with her.  
  
He knew he was probably being a little easy on her, but Jophiel had always had a weakness for girls, and their company had always tempered him even when he was at his worst behaviour-wise.  
  
Upon speaking her name so softly, Kurumu’s eyes lit up, her body language completely shifting into overt jubilance as a wide, open smile was displayed on her pretty face. “I-I-I…” She stuttered, though this time in apparently barely contained joy.  
  
“Promise to not make any more thralls?” Jophiel asked, serious but not overly so.  
  
She hesitated, and a small smile took hold of her features as she lightly replied. “I’ll never need to again since I’ve finally found my…” she all but whispered, trailing off to the point that he couldn’t make out her last words of that sentence. “...I promise I’d never lie to you, Jophiel.”  
  
Her smile, body language, tone of voice, all felt remarkably genuine. God help him, Jophiel believed her. “Okay, I trust you,” he nodded. “So… with that out of the way, I’ve got to finish my patrol, so-”  
  
“Patrol?” Kurumu asked, glancing down at his new get-up. “What do you mean?”  
  
He blinked. “I joined up with the Public Safety Commission,” he explained as he started walking, really feeling like he shouldn’t dally too much.  
  
She fell into step alongside him without missing a beat, taking hold of his arm and holding on tightly. “Public Safety Commission?” She asked. “What’s that? Does it have anything to do with the new uniform you’re wearing that compliments your broad shoulders so well?”  
  
...Well, that explained why she thought she’d have been able to get away with the enthralling business if nothing else.  
  
Marching on to make sure order was maintained, Jophiel filled the girl in on his new job, the duties that entailed, and his reasons for doing so.  
  
While she seemed thoroughly impressed by his sense of duty and good nature, Jophiel was just glad that he hadn’t lost a friend and seemed to have even steered her away from a path which would have ultimately led her into darkness.  
  
With a smile, Jophiel reflected on how great the day was turning out to be.


	11. A Call to Action

“Joe, I don’t want to be rude, but I thought you were dense, not stupid.” Will remarked with his arms crossed, staring hard at his friend. “You forgave her the moment she threatened to turn on the water works because of a sob story.”  
  
“Well then I suppose that means  _I_  can go fuck myself too then, given how awful  _I_  was when I was a teenager then? Fuck second chances, right!?” Jophiel growled back, his teeth clenched and brows tightly knit together as he leaned forward rather aggressively.  
  
“The more I hear about your past, the more concerned I grow about what sort of behaviour I can actually expect out of you going forth,” Louise said in a dry, accusatory tone, fixing the shorter of the two Canadians with a hard gaze from her spot at the table.  
  
The three of them had assembled in Jophiel’s shared room, Will and the young noble insistent on chewing Jophiel out for his “rash” decision.  
  
Will’s expression softened for a split second, before he frowned. “I’m not against second chances, but you deal with monster girls long enough you get used to crocodile tears.” He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back against the wall. “I won’t start anything with her though, if that’s what you’re worried about.”  
  
“In Tristain, Firstborns capable of enthralling people are to be killed on sight for a reason,” Louise said in a very measured tone. “Knowing what you know about this creature, I am finding myself  _very_  concerned about your ability to make rational decisions, Jophiel,” the tiny noble blonde girl declared before glancing aside at Booker. “I’m finding myself growing more and more concerned with the decision making abilities of those around with each passing day, in fact. Are you sure you aren’t still under the effects of that Firstborn’s magic?”  
  
“I shook it off within seconds, and then punched her clear across the hall.” He dryly replied, meeting her gaze. “I am absolutely sure I’m not under the effects of her mind control.”  
  
“And yet, knowing what sort of things it can do, you’re allowing it to roam free among the general populace despite ostensibly being the local equivalent of a guardsman,” Louise lightly scoffed as she shut her eyes and shook her head. “You’ll have to forgive me for being under the impression that you are  _both_ suffering from induced compromised decision making abilities as of late.”  
  
Jophiel was fighting to keep his composure at the accusations and dismissals being thrown around, and so had to keep focused on not losing his cool over defending his or anyone else’s actions and decisions.  
  
Will dipped his head and sighed, his frown deepening. “I can understand why you’d suspect that, and perhaps I’m a bit soft like Joe is at times when it comes to girls. It’s easier to dismiss tears when they’re shed a moment after they lost a fight, but harder to do so the next day.” He reluctantly admitted. “If she hypnotizes people again I’ll bring her in, but I feel like until she does so it’d be harassing her.”  
  
A twitch of the brow was the only physical tell of Louise’s growing aggravation with the situation. “...Were we in Tristain, I’d make a point to have you both disbarred for this gross negligence of your duty to protecting the general populace of this academy,” she declared cooly. “I’m especially disappointed in  _you,_  Jophiel. As a noble, you in particular should know best how important it is to defend commoners from such grave threats.”  
  
The girl rather unexpectedly rose from her seat, her fiery nature starting to take hold as she was rapidly starting to let her own emotions get the better of her.  
  
“If neither of you will deal with this threat, then I will-!”  
  
Jophiel slammed his hands down on the table with a great crash, startling the girl, though Booker had seen it coming. “ _This isn’t Alfheim, Louise._ ” He all but growled. “And since you apparently haven’t figured it out yourself yet,  _you, me, Will, and Tsukune are the only humans in this school._ ”  
  
Will gave a small wave of his hand at his name being mentioned.  
  
Louise fell silent, staring at Jophiel wordlessly as her expression became completely blank. “What,” she eventually managed.  
  
“Well technically I’m monster blooded, which is why I survived a fight with Joe, including getting sent through a solid pillar.” He gestured to himself. “But yeah, everyone else in this school is some type of monster in disguise, all learning how to fit into human society without causing any trouble.”  
  
Louise had turned and was now staring blankly up at Booker, who was still leaning against the wall. Her expression belying absolutely nothing in the way of emotion for a good number of seconds before she finally managed to speak up. “...But only mimics can make themselves look human, and mimics are no more intelligent than dogs,” she replied tonelessly, as if she hadn’t quite processed what she’d just heard. “Wait, you did what what- you’re  _what._ ”  
  
The girl’s brain seemed to finally be catching up, and her eyes widened  _considerably_  at Booker’s words.  
  
“Well not every monster here is a mimic,” he shrugged, ignoring her outburst, “and I don’t actually know how they all figured how to make a human form,” he muttered mostly to himself, then shook his head. “But they’re smarter than dogs, even if some of them act like mutts.”  
  
 _“What the Hel do you mean you were ‘sent through a giant pillar!?’”_  Louise immediately screeched at the much larger man, any sense of composure lost.  _“And that in the Founder’s name is ‘monster blooded’ supposed to mean!? Are you suggesting that one of your parents was an orc or something-”_  
  
She stopped, mouth hanging open before shutting closed and giving Booker a slow once-over, clearly taking in his immense size compared to her, given that Booker himself had a full five inches on Jophiel, who himself already had a full seven inches on the average Tristainian man.  
  
“...That would actually explain a lot…” she breathed while staring at his massive arms before violently shaking her head. “Wait, no, I heard you two got into a scuffle like a pair of rowdy common children! What by Saint Sasha’s blessings do you mean by ‘sent through a pillar!?’”  
  
Will blankly stared at the small blonde girl, and glanced between her and Joe in bemusement. “I mean,” he slowly began, “Joe backhanded me so hard I flew down the hallway into a pillar, cracking it from its foundations, and then crashed into the next one behind it. What do you think I mean?” He raised both of his arms as his brows furrowed.  
  
Louise had gone deathly still, staring up at Booker with her mouth hanging open. She then slow, almost  _painfully_  slowly, turned aside to look at Jophiel.  
  
She stared at him. Silently.  
  
“...I… I know you had Fouquet fleeing from you during the attack on the Academy, but… surely, you were using magic to duel him, right?” She asked, her voice shaky and clearly disbelieving.  
  
Jophiel blinked at her, then his face lost a little of its colour. “...I don’t actually know how to cast magic, Louise,” he admitted, horrified by how she’d react now that he had to be honest, since she wasn’t just making assumptions and asked him directly.  
  
Louise, once again, went silent and just stared at him.  
  
“Don’t fuck with me, Jophiel,” she said, her tone becoming icy. “You’ve been speaking to me this entire time using translation magic that  _nobody in the academy had cast on you._  A  _Square class_  translation spell. That sort of thing doesn’t just  _happen on its own._ ”  
  
It was Jophiel’s turn to blink and stare wordlessly. For starters, he hadn’t heard Louise swear before. Secondly… “I thought it was the familiar bond making us capable of understanding each other.”  
  
“...That isn’t how familiar bonds work,” she replied.  
  
The room went quiet.  
  
Will cleared his throat, raising his fist to his mouth as a gesture to get their attention. “So, uh, do you think I fought with magic as well?” He directed his question towards Louise, somewhat curious if she assumed he was a mage or what.  
  
Louise shifted her gaze from Jophiel, or rather  _tore_  her gaze from him through  _herculean effort_ , and settled it back on Booker. “I thought you were a commoner that Jophiel was letting get away with gross impropriety and are a bad influence on him because you have a history with each other, and that he knew better than to draw a wand on someone who would be physically incapable of defending themselves from such an attack.”  
  
The taller Canadian scratched the side of his head in thought. “I think I might have fought a spell caster before, tough to say, most monsters prefer hypnosis over anything flashier. Though,” he faintly smirked, “I’m more than capable of physically defending myself.”  
  
After a few moments, something seemed to click in the tiny girl’s mind as she returned to her full height and scoffed imperiously. “By the old gods, the Trickster would have a  _field day_  with me I’m so gullible… both of you are  _asses_  for toying with me so,” she grumbled as she redirected her gaze to a corner, raising her nose in distaste as she did so. “Throwing each other through pillars through naught but pure physical might, besting mages without magic… I cannot believe I allowed myself to be misled into believing such nonsense…!”  
  
Will shrugged his shoulders. “Eh, I would have used magic if I could, but I’m still struggling to even lite a match or read the wind. Didn’t quite get to the spellcasting part of training yet.” He remarked as he continued leaning against the wall.  
  
The Tristanian noble cocked an eyebrow at Will, crossing her arms across her modest chest and giving him a critical look. “So… you  _are_  a noble- or are you just a noble’s bastard?” She raised a hand to her chin ponderously. “Or descended from a noble’s bastard, at least.”  
  
“Titles are kind of meaningless here if you haven’t noticed. Japan’s basically a republic in all but name, and the only status this school cares about is personal strength.” Will responded with another shrug. “Noble or not, it doesn’t matter.”  
  
“Personal strength?” Louise’s ears perked up a tad. “That doesn’t sound significantly different from noble culture back home, where the strong are given special privileges appropriate for their pedigree, and are expected to in turn protect those beneath them from danger and hardship.”  
  
Will hummed as he took in her response and rubbed his chin. “Then perhaps you may fit in better than first appearances suggest, but most would simply use their strength to exploit and abuse other students. This isn’t exactly a friendly place.” He gestured to his friend. “That’s why Joe and I joined the Public Safety Commission, someone has to keep the mad dogs in line.”  
  
Louise’s mood visibly soured at that. “...It sounds more like this school’s culture is that of barbarians enforcing their will upon unwilling subjects, for no other reason than because they can and with no intent to do good for those beneath them.”  
  
“In my experience that seems to be a common theme amongst monster society, with few exceptions. Add to the fact that this school is basically the dumping ground of violent rejects that can’t conform, and you have a very dangerous environment. Too many wannabe ‘alpha males’ rubbing shoulders and trying to be tamed.” Will sneered in disdain. “Two days into the semester and I had to shatter a man’s pelvis because he was trying to rape a friend.”  
  
Louise had already started to look aghast, then shifted to a quiet, roiling fury once he’d finished. “Is this would-be rapist still alive?” She asked curtly.  
  
“Barely.” He replied, and wondering if letting Saizou die of internal bleeding would have been preferable to taking him to the on-campus hospital.  
  
 _“That’s not good enough,”_  Louise snarled. “I will  _not_  tolerate allowance for rapists roaming free in any capacity, and if neither of you will put that mad dog down, then I will-”  
  
By that point, Jophiel had risen to his feet and interjected. “Louise,  _calm down_ ,” he commanded. “You are just a student here, not the law.  _We_  are… and now that I know about this fuck, I’m pretty much on-board with putting him down if he tries even the barest hint of anything again, personally.”  
  
“His name’s Saizou, and he won’t be out of the hospital for a while.” Will informed his friend. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the type of shit head that doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone. I expect him to show back up at some point, probably with a crew since he knows he can’t take me himself.”  
  
“Let him try,” Jophiel declared, cracking his knuckles. “I’ll take any excuse he’ll give me.”  
  
“I’d put it less barbarically…” Louise critically noted past lidded eyes directed Jophiel’s way. “Though, I…” she hesitated, seeming to consider something for a few moments, before nodding her head. “I wish to join the Public Safety Commission as well.”  
  
Will critically eyed up the short noblewoman, trying to gauge how she’d handle a fight. “If you rely on a wand or staff to cast spells, that’s a point of weakness if wrestled away from you. What would you do if you’re ambushed and surrounded on all sides?”  
  
“Produce an omnidirectional gale-force wind to force aggressors away from my person, obviously,” Louise scoffed at the question. “And I’m a skilled swordsman, even if I have… allowed my constitution to wane in favour of more academic pursuits in recent years, a proper training regimen would be more than enough to bring my body up to military standards again.”  
  
He hummed in approval but gestured to the holster on her hip. “And what if you are deprived of your wand? Then what?”  
  
“I will stab the offending hostile in the face with a sword,” she very dryly replied through lidded eyes.  
  
Will let out a bark of laughter and clapped his hands. “Wonderful! You sound cut out for the Commission as far as I’m concerned.”  
  
“I will… make an effort to recreate Mother’s training regimen, and once I am up to military standards again, I will put forth my name for joining the Public Safety Commission as well,” Louise declared with a resolute nod. “Until then… I expect the both of you to take your duties deadly seriously, especially if this school’s culture truly is one of barely contained barbarism.”  
  
“I was already planning on it.” Will remarked.  
  
Jophiel glanced aside at the tiny girl, and let out a small breath from his nose. “I suppose I should probably give you my Hellion then,” he noted simply. “You aren’t going to find any other swords around here that aren’t scrap metal display pieces, and you’re going to need a blade to make use of your skills in the first place.”  
  
Louise shifted her gaze to the Familiar, held a thoughtful look on her face for a few moments, and nodded. “I… would normally not wish to claim a belonging of yours, especially one so fine, but it sounds as though you have no need of a weapon here to begin with, and I…  _am_  a good deal less physically able than you, loath as I am to admit it.”  
  
She let out a sigh.  
  
“The brutal cleaving design of your sword is all but alien compared to the straight blades of Halkegenia, though I am sure I will be able to adjust to it with training.”  
  
The Canadian, for his part, had ambled over to his bed, and picked up the blade, a modernized Greek kopis, or a sword-sized kukuri depending on how one chose to look at it, and just gazed down at the weapon for a moment.  
  
Eventually, he nodded and about-faced, presenting the sword to Louise. “I love this thing, so please take good care of it.”  
  
“I am only borrowing it,” Louise asserted as she took the blade and looked it over herself. “So I will.”  
  
“I’m still astounded that the Headmaster didn’t confiscate your weapons, Joe.” Will remarked as he looked between his friend and his sword, and shook his head.  
  
“Considering my fists are probably more dangerous weapons than my sword is at this point, he probably doesn’t consider them to be genuinely dangerous- at least no more so than the average student is around here,” Jophiel observed. “Also, just general negligence.”  
  
“Yeah that too.” Will nodded in agreement. “That’s a running theme at this academy.”  
  
“...I’m beginning to miss Headmaster Osmand quite dearly,” Louise noted with some  _serious_  concern in her voice.


	12. It’s What’s on the Inside that Counts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fission and I, after much discussion, decided that the direction the previous chapter went was a MASSIVE mistake, and so, with that in mind, we are calling to your attention that chapter 11 has been rewritten and must be reread before this one.
> 
> Return to chapter 11 and read it again before coming back here, otherwise, you’re going to find yourself very confused. You have been warned.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting out of the Mummy Club… but that certainly wasn’t it,” Jophiel declared as he cracked open a can of “Dr. Doctor,” his 100 yen microwavable burger which he was eating cold because neither he nor William could actually find a microwave sitting beside him on the lonely bench in the back of the school courtyard.  
  
“Neither did I.” Will replied as he tore apart his jerky-like burger patty. It was like biting into wafer thin salted pieces of cardboard, but it was vaguely meat flavoured and that was good enough for him. He tried to wash out the taste with some weird grape soda called Juyo Juice. It was flat, luke-warm, and had so much sugar it was nearly fermented into shitty wine. “Thought they’d be a bunch of mummy cosplayers or undead students. Didn’t think they’d actually go into the social and religious role that mummification played in Egyptian society.”  
  
“...The weird cat-statue thing they gave us on our way out was just weird though,” Jophiel noted dryly as he glanced aside at the gaudy thing in William’s spare hand.  
  
“Yeah, this thing’s got a bit of heft to it. You’d almost think it was made out of actual gold.” Will remarked as he casually tossed it up and caught it.  
  
“I’m sure all the lead under the cheap brass coating is doing wonders for making it feel authentic alright,” Jophiel noted as he rolled his eyes and lifted his hereto untouched can of soda. “Don’t eat with that hand until you get the chance to wash it, fuck only knows where that that’s been on its way here from China.”  
  
Will nodded in agreement as he put the statue down at his feet. “Probably a good idea, though…” He paused and took a sip of his soda, grimacing at the overpowering sweetness. “I don’t even know if I’d get poisoned, monster-blooded endurance and all that. Never felt the need to test it out.” He finished it, crushing the empty can and toss it towards a nearby recycling bin.  
  
“Yeah yeah-” Jophiel started, lifting his soda to take a powerful chug, followed immediately by a startled and horrified sputter and shower of cola arcing out in front of him, the drink he’d put into his mouth spewing out as quickly as it’d gone in. “AGH FUCK, Jesus mother of Christ, this fucking Dr. Doctor shit is nothing but pure goddamned salt! Why would such a goddamned artisanal-looking can be so damned salty on the inside?!”  
  
He sat, head hanging between his legs as he spat desperately onto the concrete ground beneath them.  
  
Will recoiled in disgust as his nose scrunched up. “Jesus Christ! There’s more salt in that can than actual sea water.”  
  
“W-who the fuck puts fucking salt in  _pop!?”_  He cried out. “I need to wash that awful taste out of my fucking mouth! UGH,” the shorter of the two Canadians declared as he reached aside for the can of Fizz-ION energy drink he’d also bought in case the day dragged on, clutching the tall can and cracking it open vigorously.  
  
He swigged it back.  
  
And promptly spat a thick, goopy blue substance out onto the ground in front of him with a hacking cough. “WHAT THE FUCK, IT’S ALL SLIMY AND SHIT, WHY THE FUCK WOULD ANYONE PUT CARBONATED SLIME IN A CAN!?” The bearded Canuck loudly despaired.  
  
William did his friend a favor by taking the Fizz-ION can and chucking it into the trash where it belonged. The can hit the side, causing a trail of slime to bubble out and almost mournfully pour onto the ground before toppling over into the trash. “Right where it belongs.” He said in disdain. “Who the fuck would want slime anyway?”  
  
His coughing having calmed down, Jophiel finally recovered and returned to his full seated height. “Jesus, that was an ordeal…” Then, he blinked a few times. “...Huh, y’know, this is gonna sound odd, but while that Fizz-ION was fucking horrendous at first, but the aftertaste is actually kinda pleasant… almost rich and complex,” he grimaced. “Now I’m kinda wishing you didn’t toss it out after all. The slime doesn’t seem so bad now that I’ve gotten used to it. You don’t think you might’ve been a little hard on it, man?”  
  
“Oh you’re just trying to guilt trip me.” Will remarked as he went back to his burger and took a bite, only to pull back in surprise. “Hey wait a second!” He lifted the stale bun and saw that it missing half of its contents. “This burger isn’t finished! Who the hell gives up halfway through?!”  
  
“...Wow,” Jophiel grumbled through lidded eyes. “How fucking lazy. What kinda quitter- hey wait, look at the wrapper! It’s made by the same company that made that salt soda!” he declared, pointing at it.  
  
“Geez, must be their own vending machine. That’d explain all these weird off-brand ideas.” Will grumbled as he angrily finished chewing on his terrible empty bun. “Fucking hate being broke. We’ve got no yen to our name.”  
  
“I know! It sucks!” Jophiel whined, sagging in his seat with a groan before taking a bite of his burger, mercifully of a different brand- made with spam instead of jerky, and swallowed it with a grimace. “Incidentally… mind if I have your energy drink? Kinda got screwed over on the drinks side of things here…”  
  
“Yeah sure thing man. I think I’m gonna stick to water until I can afford real drinks.” Will replied as he reached down and picked up their last unopened tall can. He looked down at it as he read the title. “Huh, ‘Trapped Horsepower.’ Weird name but whatever.” The label was some brunette elf looking chick with fuzzy ears. “Who the hell comes up with these names?” He asked rhetorically as he passed it to his friend.  
  
Jophiel took the can, and looked over the label with a critical eye himself. “...This cute chick is almost making me as uncomfortable as that smiling bearded dude on the Juyo Juice can,” he noted with a furrowed brow. “But whatever, bottom’s up,” once again, he cracked it open and took a swig.  
  
He was quiet, seeming to take his time tasting it. Eventually, he swallowed the concoction and shrugged his shoulders.  
  
“Seems fine, but the flavour’s a little off, almost like it’s dusty, if that makes sense- JESUS!” He declared as he lifted the can and looked at the bottom, noticing a series of numbers hidden there. “This can expired a half fucking decade ago!”  
  
“Oh my god!” Will checked the plastic wrap for his burger and saw the expiration date. “No wonder this tastes like shit! It went bad years ago!”  
  
The two boyos shared a look, glanced at their meal, and simultaneously grimaced.  
  
“I think we’re done here…” Jophiel asserted as he dumped the can of Trapped Horsepower and tossed it in the trash with no further aplomb, standing up and dusting off his dark Public Safety Commission uniform. “We should ask about fucking janitorial work or something, eating like this is awful.”  
  
Will chucked his wrapping into the trash and grabbed the ‘gold’ cat statue as he stood up. “That’d suck. Shame the Commission doesn’t give us an actual commission. We wouldn’t have to worry about affording lunch if they did.”  
  
“Yeah, talk about fucking rough, man…” Jophiel grumbled, shaking his head. “Well, whatever. Now that we’re arguably worse off than we were at the start of the lunch hour, did we have anything else official we were supposed to be before club day?”  
  
“Nah, we were supposed to sit in on the Mummy Club’s preparations, which we did,” Will shook the cat statue for emphasis, “but besides that we’re just supposed to walk around, get a feel for the clubs. Basically a day off.”  
  
“Right, right…” Joe nodded along. “Well, I guess we’ll finish today’s patrol and reconvene tomorrow to check stuff out then?”  
  
“Sounds like a plan. I was hoping to hang out with Moka and Tsukune too. Feels like it’s been a while since we did anything other than chat for a few seconds.” Will replied, idly scratching his cheek. “I feel a bit guilty about that.”  
  
“Fair enough, I’ll probably just kill time all day. Kurumu might follow me around all day again, dunno, things have been  _real_  quiet since the last time anything happened. Almost like all the troublemaker’s bullshit was frontloaded and is over and done with, y’know?”  
  
“Yeah, guess the hotheads burned themselves out already.” Will remarked with a laugh. “Makes our job easier.”  
  
“Yup. Alrighty then, let’s get going then,” Joe nodded as the pair started down towards their patrol route again, the day passing them by with no further incident.  
  
\---  
  
The halls were absolutely packed with students crowding around numerous booths lined up along the walls. Club Day had come and as part of learning how to integrate with humans, every student had to join a club. The biggest recruiters were the sports and athletic clubs, since it gave monsters an excuse the beat the shit out of each other and get credits for it.  
  
Kurumu had dragged Jophiel off on their own the instant she got her tiny little hands on him, and thus Will’s otherwise stalwart companion was nowhere to be seen for the time being, and Louise, as far as the pair could tell, was hanging out with her younger witch friend.  
  
That aside, Tsukune was doing his best to avoid going anywhere near those booths, and Will felt a pang of sympathy for his friend. Just about every club was either too physical, weird, or niche to fit a meek human like him. Moka was nervous too, following alongside the human and keeping a grip on Tsukune’s arm to avoid getting pulled into the sea of people.  
  
The poor girl was getting harassed by recruiters, all of them perving on her and making unwanted advances. They’d been walking for barely five minutes before taking shelter behind their larger ‘senpai’ and using the Canadian as a type of icebreaker to clear a path through the crowd. He decided against wearing his uniform since it was his day off and he wanted to be dressed more casually.  
  
“So, anything catch your attention?” He half-turned to face his lowerclassmen. “I’d recommend the Mummy Club if you’re into Ancient Egypt. It’s actually pretty interesting…” His gaze turned to said club and he cringed when he saw their presentation. The club president dressed up in bandages and making groaning noises while groping into the crowd. “Uh, despite appearances. I swear it’s more professional than it looks.”  
  
Moka glanced to the club and grimacing. “N-no thanks Booker-senpai.”  
  
“Yeah, no offense senpai, but it seems like it’s full of weirdos.” Tsukune quietly said as he warily eyed up the mummy cosplayer.  
  
“You sure? I could introduce you to Saito, he’s a great guy! Even gave me a weird cat statue!” Will declared as the club president noticed the giant gaijin and gave him a thumbs up.  
  
“No, no! That isn’t necessary!” Tsukune hastily insisted. “We can keep looking.”  
  
“If you say so.” The Canadian shrugged and gave Saito a polite nod before continuing on.  
  
They continued wading through the crowd till Tsukune pointed towards a group of people. “What about that one, senpai?”  
  
Will looked and saw a massive crowd of male students rushing to sign up with the Swimming Club. Handing out flyers was a bunch of chicks in bikinis inviting people to join them in the pool. It was obvious why it was drawing such a crowd, and why Tsukune would want to join it.  
  
“Huh… I didn’t know the school had a pool. I’d totally be using it if I did.” Will remarked before looking back to Moka. “What do you think?”  
  
The vampire gave an uneasy glance towards the booth. “I don’t know senpai, it seems like it’d be full. We should keep looking.”  
  
“But think about how much fun it’d be to play in a pool together.” Tsukune insisted in excited as his cheeks faintly blushed. “We should at least check it out.”  
  
Moka’s eyes glanced between her friend and the booth, and she demurred. “Okay, I guess we can check it out.” She meekly agreed.  
  
Will felt bad for the girl. She clearly had a lot of personal baggage, and he wanted to assure her somewhat. “There’s no need to be nervous Moka, you got Tsukune and me here looking out for you.” He reassured her as he motioned between himself and the teen.  
  
She stared between them. “Okay.” She quietly agreed.  
  
It wasn’t hard for the Canadian to push his way through the crowd of students, apparently having a bit of a reputation that he was someone to be avoided. The women manning the booth however didn’t show any concern and smiled at him as well as his companions. One with long turquoise hair stepped forward.  
  
“Hello~ Would either of you be interested in joining the Swimming Club?~” She sweetly asked Tsukune and Will as she handed them a flyer. “The club’s all women so we’d love to have some men join. We’re always looking for fresh blood.”  
  
Will actually read over the flyer, while Tsukune tried to not openly gawk at her. He wasn’t doing a very good job but she didn’t seem to mind.  
  
“Hm, good meeting time, think I’m free, and it’s still daylight as well. That’s a plus.” The Canadian muttered to himself as he read the club’s information. “I’ve got a question though,” he raised his head and stared down at the woman.  
  
“Yes? I’m the club president, Tamao Ichinose, I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.” She replied with a smile, leaning towards him and pressing her chest out.  
  
He ignored the display. “You guys have a lifeguard, right? Seems unsafe to have so many people in a pool without a couple of them on duty.”  
  
“How kind of you to be concerned about that~ We do but we’re always looking for more.” Tamao reached out and casually brushed against his hand as she played with the cuff of his jacket. “And you look you’re a very strong, capable swimmer~”  
  
“I am fond of it…” He remarked as he hummed in thought. “I don’t know CPR though, so-”  
  
“Oh that’s not a problem at all! I can teach you.” Tamao cheerfully declared.  
  
“It sounds like a great club, senpai.” Tsukune interjected, absolutely smitten with the idea. “Isn’t that right, Moka?”  
  
The vampire let out a small squeak of surprise, having been ignored up until that point. “I guess… It’d be fun to hang out with you and Booker-senpai.” She sheepishly agreed.  
  
Tamao shot a glare towards the demure girl, and crossed her arms, pressing her chest up. “I suppose we  _might_ have room for another girl. There might be some unclaimed locker you could use if you really wanted to.”  
  
“That works!” Tsukune agreed on her behalf, and Moka uttered a meek noise of protest before going quiet.  
  
“Excellent, the first meeting is later today in fact,” Tamao informed them, expression softening as she looked back to the two male students. “I’d be thrilled to give you both personal instruction once we’re in the pool.”  
  
“I hope you’ve got something in my size. I don’t have anything of my own.” Will grumbled as he realized how little clothing he actually had, and was too broke to buy anything from the school’s store.  
  
“I’m sure we can find something, and if not, you could always skinny dip,” Tamao suggested with a wink before giggling.  
  
“It’s better to keep a weapon concealed rather than open carry,” Will replied playfully, chuckling to himself.  
  
The club president liked his quip and laughed a bit harder. “Maybe I’ll be able to help you find a holster for it.” She fluttered her eyelashes at the massive bookish Canadian, smiling greedily as her hand found its way up his arm and onto his shoulder.  
  
Tsukune’s blush grew as he smiled in excitement, while Moka’s face nearly turned beet red in embarrassment. Will though, was unphased and he simply laughed harder at her joke. He was optimistic about joining the club, and maybe making a new friend.


	13. Pool Party

William grimaced as he played with the tight elastic waistband of his swimming trunks. The swimming club had nothing in his size, so he was forced to make do with something several sizes too small. He felt like he’d break the damn thing if he did basically anything.  
  
Still though, he was enjoying the pool. He’d seen it before during his patrols but didn’t give it much thought before. It was a fairly large open air pool with plenty of lounging chairs, a small supply or utility building near the far end, and a chain link fence around it. It was also absolutely packed to the gills with people.  
  
The swimming club was clearly quite popular, for obvious reasons, and attracted quite the crowd of new members. It was almost nothing but dudes that had joined the club. Clearly drawn in by the hot chicks in swimsuits. An understandable reason.  
  
The Canadian ignored them though as he spotted Moka sitting off to the side by herself. She was leaning against the fence with her knees curled up against her chest and staring out at the pool apprehensively, practically huddling inside of her oversized jacket. Whenever water sprayed out onto the concrete near her, she jumped a bit and tried to edge away further.  
  
He began to take a step in the direction of the vampire when Tamao cut him off, beaming at him as she grabbed his wrist.“I’m so happy you joined. You should come enjoy the water. I was about to join Tsukune, but I don’t mind entertaining two men at once. ” She shot him a wink.  
  
 _Geez, she’s coming on strong_. Will thought to himself in amusement. He’d have to let her know he was already taken… and also speak for Tsukune as well. The damn teen eyed up Tamao as she entered the pool, dragging Will in behind. He couldn’t blame the guy, not completely, she was pretty hot.  
  
The water was warm and pleasant, and he noticed that it didn’t have the smell of chlorine in it. It was salt water, vaguely reminding him of the ocean but without the scent of rotting seaweed and seagull shit. Much more pleasant that way.  
  
“Senpai, Tamao.” Tsukune greeted them as he moved closer, lazily treading water with his arms. They were deep enough that his feet didn’t quite touch the bottom of the pool.  
  
The club president let go of the Canadian’s wrist as she pushed off the floor, gracefully swimming over to Tsukune and wrapping an arm around his waist. Her chest was pressing against his side and their faces remarkably close. “I hope you don’t mind me sharing my time between you and your friend. I promised you both lessons, and a good time.”  
  
Will waded over to them, tall enough that his feet could touch the bottom and slowly walk through the water. “So you say, but I don’t think you’re supposed to teach CPR in the pool.” He dryly remarked as he finally began swimming properly, lazily floating in place and smiling. “It’s good to be in the water though. It’s been ages since I last went swimming, much less in a pool.”  
  
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Tsukune replied as his cheeks slowly turned red, nervously shooting a glance at the beautiful chick hanging off him. “I think I’m a bit out of practice.”  
  
“Then it’s a good thing you have me here to help you.” Tamao said with a beaming smile. “Just come with me and I’ll help you get the hang of it.”  
  
“Uh, sure thing, but,” Tsukune looked around before turning to the Canadian, “where’s Moka?”  
  
“Why do you care? If she wants to sit by herself that’s her business.” Tamao huffed in annoyance, frowning at the mention of the vampire. “She joined the club but clearly she isn’t interested in it at all.”  
  
“She’s probably just a bit nervous.” Will said in defense of the girl, shooting a glare at the club president. “There’s no need to be rude about it.” He was trying to be polite and not outright call Tamao a bit of a cunt. She didn’t even know Moka and already seemed to dislike her, but he’d long since learned that monster girls could be catty _as fuck_. So he wouldn’t hold it against her for the time being.  
  
Tamao grimaced for a split second for smiling apologetically, and nodding towards Will. “Of course, I shouldn’t say such mean things. Why don’t you go check on her while I take her of Tsukune.” She began swimming backwards, pulling Tsukune towards deeper water and the human unable, or unwilling, to break free from her grip.  
  
And on the note of men being dragging along by persistent women against their will, “Come now mister Jophiel! It’ll be so much fun!” A girl in a skimpy black bikini tugged a familiar brunet man garbed in casual blue jeans, a white shirt, and an olive-drab jacket with rolled-up sleeves along with a perplexed look on his face.  
  
“Who the fuck are you even!?” Jophiel demanded, scanning back over the way they’d come. “I’m off duty today! Leave me alone, go bug Deshiko Deshi about PSC bullcrap, Kurumu said she was gonna be right back and is gonna wonder where I went at this rate-”  
  
Finally, as the dark-haired Asian beauty tugged him closer to the pool, an ecstatic look on her face, he finally turned back around to gaze upon the below-ground swimming hole...  
  
And shifted from confusion and annoyance to what could only be described as  _horror_.  
  
“WHOA, OH, JEEZ, NOPE!” The shorter Canadian cried out as he yanked his arm free of the traditional oriental beauty’s previously firm grasp, nearly falling flat on his ass before recovering and bolting off and away from the pool. “HELL NAW, NOPE!”  
  
The dark-haired girl that had been pulling him along, meanwhile,  _had_  fallen, and gazed up in confusion and surprise once she recognized what had happened, Jophiel running off in clear and naked fear.  
  
There was a moment of silence as the guys and girls that had been gathered had noticed the little show, and were staring in befuddlement.  
  
“...Holy shit, I knew it! He’s afraid of water! Pholus-san must be a vampire!” One of the guys in the pool declared as a pool girl draped herself over his shoulders.  
  
Murmurs and gossip immediately broke out among all the present students, whispering and chortling between each other animatedly.  
  
“That explains why he’s never dropped his ‘disguise’ like everyone else has at least once… that’s just how he looks all the time!”  
  
“It really does explain a lot, doesn’t it?”  
  
“No wonder he’s so strong! But man, talk about an embarrassing way to have your weakness revealed, though!”  
  
Many of the established swimming club members all gazed after the fleeing man with a thinly-veiled collective disappointment, oddly enough.  
  
Will watched his friend run away in terror in muted concern, before glancing over to the vampire who watched the display with sympathy. He made his way across the pool, swimming around the numerous pairs of people, quickly reaching the edge of the pool close to Moka.  
  
Will rested his arms on the edge, and gave a small wave to the vampire. “Hey Moka,” he began, catching her attention as she looked at him, “Is that true? Are vampires weak to water?”  
  
She lowered her gaze and pulled her legs in closer. “No, no, I’m fine over here, d-don’t mind me.”  
  
The Canadian didn’t believe her and his expression softened. “No, you’re not. There’s no need to lie.” He didn’t want to leave her alone, clearly wallowing in loneliness and other unhealthy emotions. “Does water hurt you? If it does why didn’t you say anything before?”  
  
The vampire was silent for a moment before slowly responding. “I didn’t… You and Tsukune seemed so excited about joining the club, and I didn’t want to stop you two. Why does it matter? You’re having fun without me.” She said self-deprecatingly, turning her head away.  
  
“Moka, I joined the club to kill time and hang out with you and Tsukune.” Will gently informed her, gestured between her and the human somewhere behind him. “I’m not going to be part of it if it means you feel left out. I’ve been in the some position before, and it feels like fucking shit,” she winced when he swore, “so I wouldn’t do that to you intentionally.”  
  
He wanted to get out of the water and give the poor girl a hug, but restrained himself. He didn’t know how water affected vampires in that world and didn’t want to accidentally hurt her.  
  
“You know, I’m going to grab Tsukune, he and I will towel off, and we’ll all go check out another club.” Will said as he began to lift himself out of the pool-  
  
“Booker-senpai!” Moka yelled out.  
  
A sudden weight impact his back as he felt clawed hands wrap around his torso and a maw filled with needle like teeth clamped down around his neck. It took a second for Will to realize a monster had attacked him, his body already in motion. He reached back, gripping its long wet mess of hair, and grunted as he flung the monster over his shoulder onto the now cracked and cratered porcelain tiling.  
  
Moka jumped back, letting out a cry of surprise and avoiding it.  
  
Screams filled the air as nearly everyone in the pool began to panic, thrashing around as they tried to frantically swim for safety. Will turned and saw fish-like women were attacking all the men in the pool. Their faces opening up to reveal gaping maws of teeth with gills along the neck and legs fused into scaled tails.  
  
They were grabbing any man they could and dragging him underwater as they sunk their teeth into their victim’s flesh.  
  
 _Of all the times for Joe to run. It’s right before a fucking massacre_.  
  
Without hesitation Will, kicked off the side of the pool, shattering it, and tackled the nearest mermaid. He tore her free from her victim and smashed her against the other wall, indenting it with her face. The unconscious monster was ejected from the pool with a toss, sending her crashing into lounge chairs and scattering broken plastic everywhere.  
  
He quickly surveyed the pool, several monstrous mermaids swimming towards him with their webbed hands poised to grab him. In the chaos he spotted Tamao’s turquoise hair as she leered over Tsukune and laughed as her club bit into their new club members, who had started to visibly and rapidly wither as if aging dozens of years in mere moments. The human was unharmed at the moment.  
  
“You picked the wrong mark, you fucking cunts!” Will roared as he grabbed the ledge and in one swift motion broke it off the foundation, producing a improvised club of concrete and tile. He pushed off the wall and brought it down on the head of the nearest mermaid, her skull cracking as his weight and momentum carried him forward. The blow kicked up a spray of bloody water, showering her fellow monsters.  
  
Another one tried to bite him, only to get the back end of the weapon stabbed into her jaw and neck twisted as he turned in place, driving her into another mermaid. The duo produced a meaty crunch as they slammed into each other and went flying out of the pool, smashing against the chain link fence.  
  
“Oh, looks like we have a confident one here!” Tamao declared with a sneer directed Will’s way. “I was looking forward to focusing on the tasty little morsel that is Tsukune…” She noted, glancing towards the panicking teen that looked like he may have pissed himself and didn’t know what to do, just splashing about in naked terror. “But I’ll be more than happy to put you in your place first, show you that you’re in  _our_  dominion now, William!”  
  
She began darting at him, cutting through the water almost like a torpedo, if a torpedo had a massive gaping maw filled with needle-like teeth and soulless, empty eyes.  
  
With a powerful stroke he propelled himself towards Tamao. The club president met his mad approach, a sweep of her tail sending her forward. She moved gracefully through the water, dodging around his swing and smacked him down into the water with a terrible thwack backed up by a lower half made up of nothing but pure muscle, tendon, and bone.  
  
Will’s back hit the floor with a thud, leaving him nearly fifteen feet underwater. Tamao warily eyed him as she circled around him and he glared daggers at her, like two predators clashing. A group of mermaids joined her, quickly swimming laps around the entire perimeter of the pool so fast they began to produce a powerful current, a bonafide  _whirlpool_.  
  
Tsukune was clearly only just barely managing to keep his head above water at that point, thrashing and screaming, likely only spared by virtue of Will actually being powerful enough to necessitate focusing on bringing him down above all else.  
  
Tamao, meanwhile, was keeping her distance, so he decided he’d get closer.  
  
His hand drove through the tiled floor and he threw a chunk of debris at her. She easily dodged the underwater projectile, and as he tried to jump to tackle her the current pulled him aside. He was spun around and took a wild swing at a mermaid that latched onto his shoulder. It connected but another one sank its teeth into his leg and a clawed hand scratched his scalp as one grabbed his hair. She pulled back, and he felt teeth sink into his neck.  
  
He was disoriented, the whirlpool still going as he was turned around upside down. He felt himself getting weaker as the world around him got duller and duller. He realized with mounting horror they were draining him of his life force, his essence, and that he was slowly feeling like he did as a human.  
  
 _No! NO! I can’t go back to being useless! I can’t go back to being weak and helpless!_  
  
Desperately he lashed out and writhed in their collective grasp, trying to break free. His hand brushed against the neck of one and he drove his fingers into her gills. The mermaid let go, only for another one to take her place.  
  
 _Joe! Where are you?! For the love of god help! Anyone?!_  
  
Panic filled his being as futility trashed. His lungs started to burn as he was held underwater, the sensation getting worse the weaker they made him. His mind blindly running on fear and anger, unable to break to break free from the predicament.  
  
 _Alice, I’m sorry that I was too weak to survive..._  
  
Will distantly noticed a splash as someone jumped into the pool, and with an expression of absolute horror, caught a glimpse of Moka underwater.  
  
The vampire girl was spasming,  _hard_ , as if in awful, hellish pain, her eyes widening as her mouth gaped and bubbles spewed forth. She was trying to scream in agony as her baggy jacket was clearly already starting to weigh her down as her arms started to flail helplessly.  
  
Tamao had momentarily removed her mouth from Will’s neck to glance aside, and he could see the bitch begin to  _laugh_  at Moka’s expense, no sound emanating from her maw owing to their being completely submerged, but the motions and rocking of the mermaid’s shoulders were clear as day.  
  
 _No Moka, run… Don’t die with the rest of us…_  
  
The girl was starting to sink, her eyes wide, redding and the colour fading from her already pale skin, her soft brunette hair cascading around her as the strength began to visibly wane from her limbs, and she couldn’t even fight the water’s sinking pull on her, the rosary she wore around her neck starting to drift upwards like a buoy.  
  
There was nothing he could do. He could only watch as the small, shy, meek girl drowned along with him, and why? Had she thought she could help, by subjecting herself to a torturous end?  
  
Why hadn’t she run for Jophiel-?  
  
...Because she thought he was a vampire too, now.  
  
 _Fuck_.  
  
As he felt every ounce of strength he had fought so long and hard for slowly seep from his body, he noticed something approaching Moka…  
  
It was Tsukune, desperately fighting against the current, reaching out to her as well as he could.  
  
Will’s heart sank. He’d hoped Tsukune would have gotten away, but it seemed that all three of them were condemned to drown in that damned pool. Anger had given way to nihilistic acceptance, his limbs becoming too weak and exhausted to move and water slowly filling his lungs.  
  
The Japanese youth flung out a hand, pain visible on his features as he was clearly forcing himself to remain beneath the water beyond his limit, and he caught something.  
  
To Will’s dismay, it was naught but the jeweled cross that hung from Moka’s neck, tearing free from its links uselessly as the girl continued to sink.  
  
Then, there was  ** _fire_** _._  
  
The tiny ember of power he’d sensed within Moka suddenly burst to life and flared like a nuclear detonation. It was like he was staring into the sun as waves of power radiated from her, pouring over him and everyone else in the area. It was a light and he fixated on her as darkness ate away on the edge of his vision.  
  
Brunette hair turned as bright and white as the purest silver, gentle green eyes became slitted, harsh and cruel like the deadliest viper’s, what had previously been almost cute little slightly elongated canines extending into vicious, piercing fangs which looked almost purpose-built for puncturing solid steel.  
  
Eyes which had previously been redding with blood from exposure to salt water and denial of oxygen instead became crimson like fire, literally aglow with naked disdain, contempt, and more than anything else, a cold  _fury_.  
  
In that moment, it was clear to see that Will was gazing upon a vampire, a  _true,_  unsealed, overwhelmingly powerful vampire which radiated might equal, if not greater than that of even  _Jophiel’s_.  
  
 _Huh…_  he absentmindedly thought.  _She wasn’t kidding when she said that rosary sealed away her strength_.  
  
Tamao’s eyes widened in shock, her grip on Will faltering.  
  
Her expression was quickly replaced with a cocky, almost  _offended_  glare. She darted off away from Will and his captors, towards Moka, drawing back a clawed hand and moving to swipe it at the vampire…  
  
Only to take a terribly powerful kick to the underside, careening towards the surface with a crack that carried through the water and even towards Will’s ears.  
  
Moments later, Moka harshly swung her arms, reorienting herself and kicking off the wall behind her, rocketing at Will, her eyes locked firmly upon him.  
  
A roundhouse kick followed, catching not only one of his mermaid captors in the face, but all of them at once, the sheer force of the once-meek girl’s leg producing a current of its own that briefly forced Will into the floor of the pool-  
  
An instant later, he felt his body accelerating, and with a loud watery crash, he felt the terrible, chilling,  _wonderful_  sensation of his form cutting through open air for a few precious moments before he hit dry, grassy Earth.  
  
Moka had thrown him clear out of the pool, just beyond the concrete and porcelain tiling surrounding it and onto the much softer well-kept grass beyond.  
  
Will immediately gagged as he rolled onto his side and began coughing up water. It took several wet hacks until he could take a breath of air. The taste of salt filled his mouth and he propped himself up as he vomited, heaving onto the grass. His arms were shaking and gave out as he tried to push himself off the ground, failing and falling back to his side.  
  
He couldn’t hear the world around him. Not as he did before. It was dull and muted, and the screams of terror or sounds of battle were quiet. The sound of hearts beating or people mumbling under their breath was lost to him. He was weak.  
  
Was that it? Was he human again? Had it all been for nought? Had some goddamn fish tailed cunt torn it all away from him?  
  
His mind was in a haze, exhausted and slow to function. “No,” he muttered, “It can’t be over. I can’t be human again…”  
  
There was an explosion of water as something breached the surface, and breached  _hard_. A figure careened through the air straight upwards into the sky, a turquoise glint indicating that it was the predatory swim club president, who was rapidly slowing and starting to fall back, when  _another_  breach occurred.  
  
Moka, with Tsukune in the crook of her arm, came surging forth from the water, and with another mighty kick sent Tamao speeding right into the hard tiled masonry surrounding the pool. An audible crack resounded from the impact. Whether from Tamao’s bones breaking, or the tiles breaking, Will didn’t know. But the mermaid came to a harsh, graceless rolling stop, her jaw gaping open and closed in pain and confusion, like a fish out of water.  
  
The silver-haired vampire landed on her feet with a deceptive grace, salty pool water running off of her long hair and heavy, weighed-down clothes, rapidly pooling around her as she stood, silent and victorious.  
  
A second later, she carelessly dropped Tsukune like a sack of potatoes, and he yelped as he face-planted on the ground, still clutching the jeweled crucifix from the rosary in his hand.  
  
Moka scanned the pool-turned battlefield. There were many male students that seemed to have aged decades in mere minutes, their skin having became tight against their frames, and their hair as white as the driven snow. The broken and battered remains of mermaids lay scattered, a small few having been Will’s own handiwork, and only as many still having been Moka’s.  
  
Many others still remained in the pool, surfacing and screeching out insults and curses at both Will and Moka, the two of them having facilitated the escape of every male student that had been baited into the pool, angrily denouncing both as weaklings and cowards for having fled onto dry land.  
  
“...Y-you…” Tamao’s voice began, strained and scratchy as she rolled over, her legs still fused into a scaled fish tail. “You  _bitch_ , and you nasty fucking  _monstrel_!” She spat, pushing herself up on her arms, glaring between Moka and Will. “You think you can come into  _my_  territory and make a fool out of me!?” She screamed, her clawed hands digging into the hard masonry beneath her. “You’ll see… I’ll show you both what happens when you screw with me!”  
  
Her gaze quickly scanned around her, and settled on Will, laying not terribly far from herself.  
  
“I’m gonna take what’s left to wring out of you and use that strength to put your little girlfriend in her place!” She bellowed before she started to  _claw_  her way towards Will deceptively rapidly, tearing up tiles as she went, screeching like a terrible siren.  
  
Will’s eyes widened as the mermaid came towards him and he tried to push himself up, to run away and live, but his feet slid out from under him on the wet grass.  
  
Moka’s eyes hardened, and she lowered herself into a leaping stance aimed right at Tamao-  
  
With a terrible, meaty crack, the swimming club president went flying, needle-like teeth arcing out of her broken jaw as her entire body went limp from the force of the impact against the side of her face… and she went soaring right past Moka, whose eyes had widened in surprise as Jophiel drew his fist back from the mighty haymaker he just threw, buried his hand blazing with the power of the Gandalfr in his jacket…  
  
And an instant later, a thunderous report into the sky sounded out, the smell of cordite and burnt black powder wafting out from the hot .45 ACP casing that bounced off the tiles at the Canadian’s feet with a light plink.  
  
 _“By the authority and order of the Public Safety Commission, I command all of you to stand the fuck down, **immediately!”**_  Jophiel bellowed out, his M1911 still directed skyward even as his furious eyes scanned the environment, settling on the pool which was practically dyed red with blood, the mermaids that had escaped Will and Moka’s wrath still bobbing atop the surface, though now staring at the new long-haired figure with horror.  
  
He bared his teeth in naked rage at the sight.  
  
 _“All of you-”_  
  
“Oh God, is that a gun!?” One of the girls in the pool declared in open terror.  
  
“Oh no, he’s an American! He’ll shoot us all!” Another screeched like a scared cat.  
  
“Dive before he pulls out his machine gun and starts shooting!” Came another voice from the pool, right before all the remaining mermaids all dove beneath the surface and right to the bottom of the pool, where the sheer volume of water would effectively render bullets harmless.  
  
There was a moment of silence, Jophiel’s features having shifted to confusion momentarily.  
  
As he was attempting to parse the situation, Moka relaxed her stance, and gazed down at the human laying at her feet.  
  
Tsukune had been staring at her the entire time, whether in abject fear, or awe, it couldn’t be said for certain. But there was no room for doubt that the look on Moka’s eyes as she herself stared was one of contempt.  
  
She reached down, and snatched the crucifix from his hand with absolutely no aplomb, causing him to gasp and recoil. Just as quickly as she’d acknowledged his presence, she’d shifted back to ignoring his very existence, and with the cross in hand…  
  
She looked Will’s way.  
  
Though that predatory glint, that monstrous power and might remained, her expression was…  
  
Well, it certainly wasn’t  _soft_ , but she wasn’t looking at him like he was pond scum either.  
  
The raw power still radiating off her left Will intimidated, and half-naked laying on the grass he was vulnerable and exposed. Too tired and nervous to say anything, he gave her a weak thumbs up.  
  
For a fraction of a second, though he wasn’t sure if it was due to his still being half-delirious from oxygen deprivation, he thought he saw the smallest hint of an amused smile on the gorgeous, terrible, powerful vampire’s ethereal features.  
  
She snapped the rosary back into place on her neck, and in an instant, returned to her soft, meek, typical brunette self before collapsing on the spot.  
  
Too quickly for Will to determine whether he had just been seeing things or not, but…  
  
Either way, as Jophiel started towards him, a look of shock and horror plain on his face as he looked over Will’s withered form, that somehow managed to feel like a victory to him.


End file.
